Every Which Way But . . .

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!