T Station Design

[bobthebuilder]

^ I think the air-rights developments for that pike parcel (Parcel 13? 15?) included a Hynes entrance on Boylston.

Air rights development eh? Sooooo....never gonna happen then, right?

I wish every parcel over the pike would get covered up. That would make me sooo happy.

 

[MBTAddict]

A consistent (and timeless) headhouse design would also be great.

I think I want this more than the Urban Ring. I want you to be able to look around and automatically know "Oh, that's a T station" just by the design. I knowwwwwwww there's better things for good money to be spent on, but a guy can dream that some day the T will have enough money to take things like this into consideration.

The problem is that branding doesn't matter much when the stations leak like a cave and are covered in grime and soot. What I really think the T could use would be "station managers", where one person is in charge of the ops of their respective station. They would be in charge of making sure the station is clean, reporting (and getting fixed) maintenance issues, making sure potential retail space is used, lobbying for reopening entrances, making sure CSAs are doing their job, etc. Similar to how the chain retail world works, where you have managers trying to outdo each other and lobbying corporate for upgrades, etc. It would have to be a position with a competitive culture, to encourage the managers to outdo each other. The employees could come from the existing CSA pool, they wouldn't have to be new hires. The T loves to blow a ton of money renovating a station, and then leave it to rot with barely any cleaning or maintenance. I just see tons of waste (potential / closed retail spaces, passageways/entrances that would be convenient for commuters but are not opened, employees not doing their jobs, dirt and filth, etc) that could be changed if there was someone who "owned" the station, vs the current system.

This is an amazing idea. I agree with bobthebuilder's concerns/comments, but I think this would be a great, innovative way to get people invested in the station. If I saw the same person, day in and day out at my "home" station and I knew they were working to make theirs the best, it would make me feel more pride and I'd want to give them ideas.

 

[The EGE]

Eh... consistent station design is overrated. Having been on three metro systems (Boston, London, Paris) within the past week, I'll say that signage is way more important. London has the beautiful big roundels, and the big T signs (common to subway and CR) aren't too bad either. Paris? You can't find a Metro station in Paris. The entrances have neat Gothic signage, but it's hard to see, especially in crowds or in the evening.