[Hopkins123]

So many foolish names have been chosen for these new lines and extensions, when far more obvious names using the cross intersection could have worked just fine. Yikes!

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Let me guess. Cedarvale which I'd also never heard of in my lifetime.

Yeah, Cedearvale. I've only ever heard that neighborhood called "Eglinton West". It wasn't until Metrolinx brought it up that I knew what Cedarvale was.

The neighborhood is also officially recognized by the City as being called Eglinton West and Cedarvale.

I don't know why they didn't just keep the name at Eglinton West - suppose it didn't fit their magical naming criteria.

They also refuse the name Eglinton Station after the Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood it exists in.

 

[Dan416]

Some of the station names on the TYSSE and on the Crosstown deserve multiple Picard face palms (which I'm too lazy to post).

 

[EnviroTO]

The most important thing is to not duplicate names. People plan their trips so the important part is to be able to record the station that you need to get off at. I will meet you at Yonge station becomes a pretty useless instruction and wastes time because the instruction is heard, the uniqueness is implied, and when the trip is taken or after arrival it is realized there is more than one Yonge station. So seeing the value of not having name mix-ups, I don't have any issue with the names chosen. For names like Cedarvale it will just grow the community brand awareness. For Forest Hill maybe more people will come to realize the neighborhood is named after a hill. People will see the hill on Eglinton and realize that they are driving up Forest Hill.

 

[crs1026]

I don't mind if a few forgotten names come back to life and confuse people for a while until they get used to them. (but then, as a kid I used to skate at the Cedarvale arena.....I could find that place with my eyes closed) In five years, everyone will have adjusted. It's good for the City's sense of itself to have these old neighbourhood names brought back into common use. What's less acceptable is when we invent faux names ("The Kip District" rankles....nor was there ever a "Distillery District" on a city map) that are just an invention.

Now, Corktown..... you practically have to go back to John Graves Simcoe for that one. But it's okay, I'm hip.

- Paul

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

The lack of name recognition is further complicated by the fact that you have stations like Forest Hill that's not actually in the heart of Forest Hill. Or Leaside station which will only sit on the boundary between Leaside and a different neighbourhood.

Indeed. Despite not living in Leaside, I am closer to Leaside station than 99% of Leaside.

Logic? None to be found.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Ahh! For the simpler times when SUBWAY meant only the station where the route you're on would terminate at.

 

[Dan416]

From a wayfinding perspective I cannot get the rationale behind trying to confuse people as to where to go with obscure names.

We're not the first system to have duplicate names. It's not a big deal, since they're on different lines. And if it really is a big deal, change the names of the stations to be unique (i.e. hyphenate as we have in the past or use a slash the way LA does).

For GO Transit, I get the "community" naming scheme and it makes sense. For local transit, as in the Crosstown, it should be street names first and foremost.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

From a wayfinding perspective I cannot get the rationale behind trying to confuse people as to where to go with obscure names.

We're not the first system to have duplicate names. It's not a big deal, since they're on different lines. And if it really is a big deal, change the names of the stations to be unique (i.e. hyphenate as we have in the past or use a slash the way LA does).

For GO Transit, I get the "community" naming scheme and it makes sense. For local transit, as in the Crosstown, it should be street names first and foremost.

The "expert" that metrolinks hired would disagree with that and say that hyphenated names aren't good and we need everything to have a unique name. This was also the same person that came up with the signage for the pan am games

 

[rbt]

The "expert" that metrolinks hired would disagree with that and say that hyphenated names aren't good and we need everything to have a unique name. This was also the same person that came up with the signage for the pan am games

As much as I prefer intersection names for stations (including the line name),I found the pan am signs pretty easy to follow and found all events without difficulty so I guess no hyphenated names is the way to go.

 

[P23]

The "expert" that metrolinks hired would disagree with that and say that hyphenated names aren't good and we need everything to have a unique name. This was also the same person that came up with the signage for the pan am games

The Pan Am wayfinding was very well done, and I'm inclined to agree with them here. Signage, wayfinding, announcements etc. are all made much easier for people to understand with short, unique names. Intersection names might be helpful if a line runs across multiple streets, but they rarely do in Toronto. Naming every Yonge line station "Yonge-X" is adding no useful information. Plus there's that quirky Dundas street, it intersects with Bloor twice!

Also, for people bringing up other cities using street names for stations; you can find just as many cities that use mostly neighbourhoods or landmarks, so it's a silly counterpoint.

 

[rbt]

Naming every Yonge line station "Yonge-X" is adding no useful information.

While Yonge is straight forward having X-University, X-Spadina, X-Keele, X-Jane, X-??? would be useful. Toronto's street setup allows for fairly easy navigation by major intersections and neighbourhoods are very loosely defined and I don't really know their positions relative to each-other.

All that said, it matters less and less every year. Most people already use a computerized navigator of some kind for unusual trips. I stopped asking family/hotels/coworkers/etc. for directions years ago; just ask for an address now.

I expect in a generation or 2 memorizing the relative position of major streets will go out of fashion anyway, so maybe unique names will be better in a few decades.

 

[P23]

While Yonge is straight forward having X-University, X-Spadina, X-Keele, X-Jane, X-??? would be useful. Toronto's street setup allows for fairly easy navigation by major intersections and neighbourhoods are very loosely defined and I don't really know their positions relative to each-other.

All that said, it matters less and less every year. Most people already use a computerized navigator of some kind for unusual trips. I stopped asking family/hotels/coworkers/etc. for directions years ago; just ask for an address now.

I expect in a generation or 2 memorizing the relative position of major streets will go out of fashion.

A subway station's catchment area usually covers a typical Toronto neighbourhood so I'm not sure it matters much where their borders are. And while it is handy to have an intersection to navigate by, I still think the complications that arise with announcements and wayfinding outweigh that usefulness. Though you could conceivably add the cross street after the name like on University line stations.

I agree that the way people navigate is changing, the TTC even plugs popular transit apps on their new maps. Smartphones combined with automated announcements make it pretty easy to find your way around transit these days.

 

[rbt]

I agree that the way people navigate is changing, the TTC even plugs popular transit apps on their new maps. Smartphones combined with automated announcements make it pretty easy to find your way around transit these days.

Some bright person will eventually add a "get off the train at the next stop and turn left to exit the station" announcement to the various navigation kits. At that point stations won't even need names.

The in-station WIFI and microcell IDs should be sufficient to provide the necessary information.

 

[P23]

Just wait until some bright person figures out the MAC of the in-station WIFI gives enough position information for directions. You won't even need the station name; the device will just say, hopefully through headphones, "get off the train at this station and turn left to find the station exit".

Indeed! I imagine once cell service is in the tunnels that could be hooked into various apps as well.