Better MBTA Station Names

Teban54 said:
Improving wayfinding of station exits

I propose the following improvements for station exits:
  • Give an explicit label (letter or number) for each exit
  • Any signage within the station should include: Exit label, street coordinates, and the side of the street (or corner of the intersection) that the exit is on
  • For selected signage (e.g. large information boards and signs with multiple rows), also include key destinations, reachable major streets, and bus transfers
  • Platforms should always have neighborhood maps that indicate all exits, especially for stations with multiple disconnected unpaid areas -- so that passengers can decide which exit they need beforehand
Using Tufts Medical Center as an example:
  • Exit A: Washington St @ Tufts Medical Center (West Side)
    • Exit here for: Tufts Medical Center, Stuart St, Kneeland St, Chinatown, transfers to bus routes SL4, SL5 and 11
  • Exit B: Tremont St @ Oak St W (NE Corner)
    • Exit here for: Eliot Norton Park, Wang YMCA, Shawmut Ave, Charles St S, transfer to bus route 43
  • On the platform, opposite arrows show "<- Exit A, Washington St" and "-> Exit B, Tremont St"
Another example, South Station:
  • Exit A: Summer St @ Atlantic Ave (NW Corner)
    • Exit here for: Dewey Square, the Greenway (north), Purchase St, High St
  • Exit B: Summer St @ Atlantic Ave (NE Corner)
    • Exit here for: Federal Reserve Bank Tower, Atlantic Wharf, Seaport, transfer to bus routes 4 and 7 (westbound)
  • Exit C: Summer St @ Atlantic Ave (SE Corner)
    • Exit here for: South Station (ground level), USPS, Seaport, transfer to bus routes 4, 7 and 11 (eastbound)
  • Exit D: South Station (via underpass)
    • Exit here for: South Station, Commuter Rail, Amtrak, intercity buses
  • Exit E: Summer St @ Atlantic Ave (SW Corner)
    • Exit here for: One Financial Center, the Greenway (south), Essex St, Surface Rd, Chinatown, transfer to bus route SL4
  • At the mezzanine level, arrows point to the two fare gates: "<- Exits A, E" and "-> Exits B, C, D"
  • (This was my motivation to begin with -- without labels for which corner the exit is at, wayfinding is tedious unless you're very familiar with the station)
Downtown Crossing (just to illustrate different exit labels when there are multiple station concourses):
  • Exit A: Washington St @ Summer St (NE Corner)
  • Exit B: Washington St @ Summer St (SW Corner)
  • Exit C: Washington St @ Franklin St (SE Corner)
  • Exit D: Temple Pl @ Washington St (SW Corner)
  • Exit E: Chauncy St @ Summer St (SW Corner)
  • Signage on the Orange Line platform should list Exit E (which is only accessible from the Red Line mezzanine) alongside any arrows pointing to Red Line transfers. Likewise, Red Line signage should also list Exits C/D (only accessible from specific Orange Line platforms) alongside Orange Line transfers of corresponding directions.
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Montreal does something like this, and I find it helpful!
 
Riverside said:
The range of possible varieties of ambiguity has convinced me. To a point you were making earlier, I think that would also mean adjusting names to Harvard Sq etc. As long as that's consistent, then it seems viable.
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I view the particular station of "Harvard" more favorably than other squares, primarily because: It has two (very notable) interpretations, Harvard University and Harvard Square. Rather than picking one interpretation over the other, it actually feels nicer to have intentional ambiguity here -- as long as the shortened name, "Harvard", remains clear and sounds natural (which it is).

Full list of stations where I would personally do this: (Note that this does not consider renaming due to the namesake person)
  • Harvard (Harvard University and Harvard Square)
  • State (State St and Old State House)
  • Charles/MGH (Charles St and Charles River)
  • Fairmount (Fairmount Ave and Fairmount Hill)
    • Although I suppose that in the transit sphere, "Fairmount Line" is more notable than both of these :)
  • Bowdoin (Bowdoin St and Bowdoin Square)
    • Considering that Bowdoin St has its own Wikipedia page, I'll take that as indication that even the street is notable enough (unlike Kenmore St)
  • Maverick (Maverick Square and Maverick St)
    • While the square is obviously better known, Maverick St is one of the only two east-west thoroughfares in the region, so I suspect it has some local notability
  • Ashmont (Ashmont St, Ashmont Hill, and the section of Dorchester named Ashmont)
    • To be fair, I don't know how much the station's name played a part in naming all three -- or more generally, how much "placemaking effect" that the Red Line station had.
    • My understanding is that, when most people refer to "Ashmont" today, they typically think of the Red Line station, and likely not Ashmont St or Ashmont Hill. (For comparison, consider Winter Hill in Somerville.)
    • Basically: Would the neighborhood still be known as Ashmont today, if the Red Line station took a different name in 1928?
  • Kenmore (Kenmore Square, the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, and Kenmore St)
    • Obviously, "Kenmore St" is far less notable than the first two
    • I would have added "Square" to it if the neighborhood wasn't already well-known, and officially recognized, as Fenway-Kenmore
    • This is a clear case of placemaking effect: AFAIK, the name progressed as Street -> Station -> Square -> Neighborhood
    • But with both the square and the neighborhood already well-known today, explicitly naming the station "Kenmore Square" feels backwards
  • Assembly (Assembly Square and Assembly Row)
    • Oh my, this one is messy
    • Apparently, "Assembly Square" is the proper name of the square and the neighborhood, whereas "Assembly Row" is technically a specific development within Assembly Square
    • But in practice, people seem to use the two terms interchangeably enough, to the point where I'd consider them equally notable
  • Prudential (Prudential Center and Prudential Tower)
    • Shares some similarities with Assembly, and technically it's common to consider Prudential Center and Prudential Tower as "the same thing"
    • Also largely because "Prudential" sounds natural and unambiguous enough
  • Ruggles (Ruggles St and the transportation hub)
    • Yes, this feels more like an exception -- where the second interpretation is entirely due to the station itself
    • But with how notable Ruggles is today as the multimodal hub (not as a street), naming it "Ruggles St" may be too unnatural
  • Alewife (Alewife Brook and Alewife Brook Pkwy)
    • I'm the least fond of this one for a variety of reasons
    • But I suppose my main reason for keeping "Alewife" is that, by now, "Alewife" alone has a placemaking effect for the region -- especially because the adjacent development was due to the station
(Yes, this exercise has made me realize that this approach isn't perfect either, particularly with stations that have lived long enough for "placemaking effects".)

This does not consider any "better names": only working based on current names.
  • Butler -> Butler St
  • Andrew -> Andrew Sq
  • Kendall/MIT -> Kendall Sq/MIT
  • Central -> Central Sq Cambridge
  • Porter -> Porter Sq
    • There's a Porter Rd next to the station, but it's obviously much less notable
    • Same for Porter St (Somerville) nearby, lol
  • Davis -> Davis Sq
  • Lechmere -> Lechmere Sq
    • According to Wikipedia, the square got its name from "Lechmere's Point" on Revolutionary War maps; but apparently nobody is referencing "Lechmere's Point" today
  • Boylston -> Boylston St
  • Arlington -> Arlington St
  • Copley -> Copley Sq
    • Even though "Copley" as a station name is beautiful, AFAIK, there aren't any other locations known as Copley other than the square
    • Especially as the City of Boston is calling the park "Copley Square Park" and not "Copley Park"
  • Nubian -> Nubian Sq
    • Looks like locals got the square renamed first, then pushed MBTA to rename the bus hub
    • However, onboard bus announcements still say "Nubian Station", not "Nubian Square"
    • Can "Nubian Station" itself be considered notable enough? I suppose not, especially due to:
      • The young age of the "station"'s name (like Magoun Square)
      • Before the rename, people also often referred to it as Dudley Square (rather than "Dudley Station"), even including the transit hub
      • "Station" often implies a rapid transit station, and using that to call Nubian is blatant injustice
    • Why the difference from Ruggles? It's a tough question, but:
      • Ruggles's outreach is very broad by now due to its service coverage -- potentially someone from Providence can know to get off at Ruggles Station. But Nubian is generally known to a much smaller area.
      • Nubian Square (and the previous name Dudley Square) are also more notable, and specific enough as a location indicator, than Ruggles St

Riverside said:
This is certainly a fair critique. Do you think that "Central Square" is meaningfully better than "Central"? It's somewhat less ambiguous, but probably still does run into the same problems you describe.
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That's a good question... While some of the issues with "Central" would probably still apply to "Central Square", my guess is that the latter is (at least slightly) less ambiguous.

It sounds like "Central Square Cambridge" is the shortest name that completely removes all ambiguities. That's admittedly too long, but:
  • "Union Square Somerville" and "Union Square Allston" are equally long (and coincidentally in similar regions on the map as Central Square Cambridge), so their presence would make "Central Square Cambridge" less awkward
  • As a by-product, it also naturally resolves any ambiguity with Central Square Lynn; even though (1) this isn't a big issue, and (2) any future rapid transit station at Central Square Lynn should simply be named "Lynn" anyway
 
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