Stations That Don't Suck

How do we design stations that don't suck?

All too often, the stations on US public transit, well, suck.

Either they're far too overbuilt, leading to high costs, project overruns, and visibly unused station areas, or they're completely minimal to the point of nonexistence, or they're just plain inefficient and ineffective.

So how do we make stations that don't suck?

Well, of course, some good advice might come from the rest of the world--and from our own past practice.

1. Label Clearly

Whether you build a giant palace to the train or a simple hovel by the side of the tracks, making sure people can actually find their trains or buses is important.

There are two different signs here that identify this as track 32, and there's clear signage of what is at track 32. Now, I'm not going to say Paris Gare du Nord does everything right (the numbering of tracks can be confusing when they're in different train halls within the overall complex) but this is solid. 

I'm already on the record as a fan of Montréal's REM, but the ability to find where the train doors are coming and how full each car is makes a pretty strong combination--not to mention that system map that's right next to those indicators, making sure you understand where this particular train is within the larger REM network.

The Montréal Metro also has some nice labeling here, as they tell you where to go on the floor, not just on the wall.

2. Provide (the Right Kind of) Space

A good station has space for people and things, but it doesn't fall into either of the two most common pitfalls I see in US: way too much space for the service demand or nowhere to actually sit down.

Toronto does fall a little bit into this on the Eglinton Crosstown, but at least the labeling helps you understand that this part of the waiting are won't actually receive a train.

Chicago's Union Station has a very impressive hall, but it's quite far from the trains--and that means that while you can sit here, you then have to hustle your bustle to actually get on something. 

And that's not even getting into the weird combination of overbuilt and underbuilt at the more rural Amtrak stations, where you simultaneously have a small built footprint (just a tiny stationhouse and a little covering for waiting passengers outside) and a huge area you have to walk across to get on the train itself.

Contrast that with the similarly minimalist train station at Noisy-le-Sec, and you see a station that is actually designed for people to wait near where the train stops and move the train on again quickly.

Yes, the intercity rail patterns are very different, and that contributes to the difference in experience--but it also is a matter of design. American stations frequently centralize waiting areas and then don't really have much in the way of a platform-side space, which makes for awkward bunching and crowding followed by an unpleasant experience if the train is late (which they often are).

3. Minimalism in the Right Places

Here let me complement a US metro system: the DC Metro gets this one right.

This station is basically just a platform inside a tunnel. It's minimalist. But the minimalism is used effectively: the decoration here is just lines and arcs, and yet it creates a sense of visual expanse and consistency that transforms the space from boring to impressive. 

Not all WMATA stations have that effect, of course--the aboveground stations are just as prone to ugliness and lack of seating (notice the lean in the foreground) as anywhere else--but the underground stations are a triumph of not overbuilding to make something impressive, while not forgetting that a station can and should look cool.

This is how I feel about things like the tiling in Jean-Talon in Montréal. 

If the station is going to have tiling anyway, it's not that much different to make it patterned, colored tile. But it adds a lot to the station. So it's minimalist in the sense that it doesn't involve a massive art installation (not that those are terrible, but they're certainly not necessary the way "tile on the floor" is) but it's using that to still improve the station appearance--and in this case also the wayfinding and directing of traffic.

So how do we build a station that doesn't suck? We make sure people can get around it, we make sure that the space they're getting around in isn't too inefficient or unpleasant, and we keep the design simple without sacrificing some level of distinctive attractiveness.

How are the stations around you?