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Ah, more Septa Stories. I was in my usual spot in Market East last night. I was taking a different line (the R5) so I had to actually check the monitors for the time. [I usually just walk on by.]
Huh, I thought to myself. They are still in "R" order - that is, while the list starts with the Airport line, that's 'cuz it used to be the R1. The last one in the row? The old R8. Fox Chase.
I had a little bit of time so I thought I'd check out the monitors closer to the tracks. Same order. WIth those new Blue-Grey signs over them, looking pretty secure.
Meanwhile, the schedules in their dispaly unit are in perfect Alphabetical Order. [And, I misspoke in a previous post: you CAN see the list of station stops on the front of the schedules while they are in their display; you just can't read them very well since they're small.]
Oh, and the station signs now being posted around are also in The Old Order. Here's one of them now [photo left], in Suburban Station. At least the three Center City stations seem to be keeping things consistent!
This all seems, to me anyway, to make it even MORE confusing for those "tourists and new passengers" that ride the regional rails.
Ah, more sign issues plaguing Philadelphia. Not just SEPTA, but also the Philadelphia Parking Authority's Kiosks. (Again with these "authorities"!) You know the PPA - those folks from the "Parking Wars" TV show.
In a recent Inky article,
Melissa Dribben reported that the PPA has only received "about 200 complaints" about the Kiosks. Besides sounding like a Big Number to me, imagine all of those people who DIDN'T actually complain and that's a Much HIgher Number.
While many complaints are about the kiosks' difficulties accepting credit/debit cards, there are also problems with the signs themselves. Signs note that "25-cents equals 8 minutes." It was misleading. The machines do not calculate by quarters or 8-minute increments!
And, really, who knows what a Kiosk is anyway? Or that it's for parking?
I recently read that art/design students are re-designing the signs (for free- ah 'slave labor'!). They plan to replace the "kiosk" wording with something more user-friendly, like Pay to Park Here!!! And making color-coded, 1-2-3 step directions for the kiosks.
What? The PPA couldn't figure that out to begin with? Now they'll be spending our parking fees to Change the Signs!
Ah, Life in Philly with the PPA . . .
So, my SEPTA sign situation continues. You know how you DO need to know which way you're going when you "ride a line" on the Regional Rail? Either you're heading towards Chestnut Hill or Fox Chase; Paoli/Thorndale or Landsdale/Doylestown.
Taking the "R" off of the lines doesn't really solve this dilemma. And the dilemma of the person who gets on a train headed the Wrong Way.
I always thought, and still do, that SEPTA should have signs posted which mark the Route of the Train, like this one (see photo) from my favorite (U.S.) transit authority, DC Metro
.
So when you're at a station, you can see all of the stops a train makes, regardless of it's R code or Final Destination.
I do have a caveat: SEPTA does have the stops listed, as such, on the newly printed, blue-grey Regional Rail schedules. As displayed, however, they still are of little help to a person unaccostomed to riding the rails - since you only see the top of the pamphlet and the name of the Final Destination of the line: "Chestnut Hill East" etc.
Oh, wait! What's that I see? A SEPTA sign? Kind of like the DC Metro one, above? Way over there, on the wall; not anywhere near the ticket agent nor the stairs down onto the platforms at Market East. And, oh! It's only on the East side of Market East. Don't see one on the West side at all.
Oh, wait! Here's a confused passeenger on the platform asking a conductor about the R1 / Airport train. She's Asian and speaking in broken English. He (and a fellow conductor) are mocking her as she asks them, 4 times, about the R1 / Airport train. They're not being very helpful. Given all the new changes and all, I guess I had assumed SEPTA would have had some guidelines for communicating with passengers for their conductors.
Here's my point, SEPTA. Ok, I have two of them:
1. Do the people who come up with the new signs, new language, "branding," as it were, actually test out their creations? Ride the rails? Think about actual usage? . . . which is really the theme of this blog: Who Comes Up With These Things and why don't they ever make sense?
2. And, did you ever consider involving your customers in the process?
Next time on this blog, I'll have an example of Including Feedback From People Who Use the System: the recent Philadelphia Parking Authority Kiosk confusion and how they fixed it to Make It Better!
File this one in the category of: "Is this how you spend our hard earned money?" SEPTA, my local public transit 'authority' (and I use that term loosely), is spending lots of moola to reprint schedules, signs, maps etc. because they are Changing the Names of the regional rail lines.
Why, you might ask? To lessen the "confusion and travel inconvenience for new riders and visitors and tourists." Hmmm. When was the last time you saw a visitor or tourist use a regional rail train - other than the R1 Airport line? As for those new riders, give 'em time and they'd get used to the system like we all do.
As for the Inconvenience part of the statement, don't get me started on how SEPTA could lessen the inconveniences we riders actually experience on a regular basis: train delays due to "signal problems," "slippery rail season," and Amtrak controlling the tracks; having to pay extra to purchase a ticket on the train (they couldn't just have automated ticketing machines at stations? or would the Union doth complain too much?); having huge evening time gaps for evening trains - mine's 1 hour + - on most lines (but not the Main Line's R5!).
Here's an example the G.M. uses to explain The Changes: "Have you ever overheard a conversation at one of our Center City Regional Rail Stations that went something like this... 'Customer: Can you tell me where I can find the R2?' Transportation Manager: 'Where do you want to go?'"
Um . . . honestly? . . . NO! A new/visitor/tourist Customer would ask "How can I get to Elkins Park / Mt. Airy / Bryn Mawr etc..."
And another: "Or have you ever been on your train when the person sitting a few seats away discovers, just a bit too late, that they're on a train heading for West Trenton when they wanted the train to Elwyn?"
Um . . . honestly? . . . ABSOLUTELY! I agree, the Regional Rail line system takes a bit of getting used to. LIke D.C.'s Metro - which, by the way, uses Colors (Red Line! Green Line!) to name the lines (and hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists there seem to be able to manage the system!), Regional Rail lines begin at one station (Chestnut Hill West) and terminate at a different station (Fox Chase); the key is: you Need to Know Which Way You Are Headed!
But, that's a story for another day (I promise!). For now, suffice it to say: Changing the Names of rail stations: this what SEPTA is spending our money (our fare increases? oh, lordy, I hope not) on? Really?!!!!!
