[carterklein13]

I'd be curious to hear what someone who is just visiting NYC would think of something like this. From my experience, once tourists enter a subway station, all bets are off in terms of orienting yourself. I feel like the little LED indicators in most stations at least in Manhattan with the line and time-to-arrival is really all you need.

Or, instead of investing in a virtual map, invest in better speakers in the actual trains themselves so that people can actually hear "now arriving at 14th St Union Square next stop Astor" instead of "now arcshcshcshcsh Uniocshcsh next cshop cshcshcsh"

[cwhiz]

They need to just add the digital information screens to all the train lines. It's significantly better than relying on speakers.

As for helping people orient themselves in the station... I have no idea. Using an app is the only way for tourists to figure out which direction to go. You have to know the terminal station to know which direction a train is going. The apps will (usually) tell you that. Having digital information inside the train would at least make people more immediately aware that they are on the wrong train.

[bootlooped]

My most common problem in the stations, and the cheapest and easiest one to solve is this: when I get off a train and am about to go above ground, I have no idea what direction I am facing.

The signs for which exit is which say the street corners or maybe just the streets, or maybe neither, but if I'm going to a new area, I have no idea what those streets are or which directions they go. So I would usually just have to stand above ground for a while and look at the business names, and look at the map on my phone, and look for the street signs, and eventually figure out which direction I needed to walk.

The solution is simple: paint a compass on the floor near the exits.

[PhantomGremlin]

I have no idea what direction I am facing

Depends on the borough and the line. My experience is mostly in Manhattan, where subways run (more or less) north/south, or as the MTA calls it uptown/downtown.

In those situations it's very simple to orient yourself from the train.

E.g. I'm going from 42nd street downtown to Astor Place on the IRT Lexington Ave Line (aka the 4 5 6). I get off at Astor Place and I immediately know north/south nee uptown/downtown. The train was heading south! I just need to remember that orientation as I ascend. And because it's a simpler station, it's easy to maintain that orientation as you leave the station.

stand above ground for a while

Yes it can sometimes be very confusing when exiting. They need much clearer indications at every exit. The natives who have been taking the same route for years have no problems, but the tourists can easily get confused.

The solution is simple: paint a compass on the floor near the exits.

This isn't quite so simple. I grew up in Manhattan (many years ago). For the longest time I thought that Manhattan was north/south. Certainly every subway map showed it that way. But it's not. Look at a Google map. Manhattan appears tilted about 20 degrees or so from true north.

The problem would be much worse in other boroughs. Some streets in Brooklyn or Queens are at about 45 degrees from the "cardinal directions" of N E S W. I think compass drawings offset so much from the actual street directions could be very confusing.

I think the newer phones are making this problem easier. Apple seems to have gone out of its way recently to emphasize that its phone is now better at discerning which way it's pointing.

[jtdaugh]

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good"

An arrow <-- uptown downtown --> could work in most spots. Or an accurate compass that is tilted 20 degrees from the actual streets, still helpful. Or:

       36th
        ^
        |

9th<-- 35&8 -->7th

        |
        v
       34th

[stephenroller]

Streets would be much more useful than a true north compass.

[rickyc091]

The weekend service changes are my favorite thing to decipher.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_F-LyTrM0YP0/TKM7nvWWJGI/AAAAAAAAH...

[cwhiz]

Those are supposedly going away with this update. They sometimes hide MASSIVE service changes in that sea of bullshit.

[swiley]

It's been a long time since I was in NYC but here in DC they have huge signs visible from the platform and maps everywhere along with lists of stops for each colored train that stops at the platform. I'm not sure how you can improve on that.

[asdff]

On a packed train you won't be able to see the one screen in the car. You might not even be able to turn your body to orient to one right behind your head. Speakers are a must.

[Mountain_Skies]

Turn the entire ceiling of the car into a video display. I'm somewhat joking but based on the mockups of windowless passenger airplanes, maybe something appropriate for the subway could be developed.

[cwhiz]

On a packed train you aren’t going to hear shit.

[thelazydogsback]

Yeah, I grew up in NYC and never had any idea what they were saying in the station or on the train. Over-driven mics, underpowered amps and tiny speakers == total harmonic distortion exceeding intelligibility thresholds...

[dheera]

I really don't understand why NYC doesn't have N/S/E/W indicators engraved into the ground at every exit. It would really help to orient yourself when you exit a station.

And before some smart-ass says it, it doesn't help that Avenues and Streets are perpendicular because that still doesn't tell N from S, or E from W. I always end up walking a block in the wrong direction just to orient myself.

[raiyu]

As a native New Yorker riding the subway for 20 years your suggestion is genius. Can’t count how many times I exited on the wrong stair case.

[zxcvbn4038]

Or the LED signs that tend to installed behind other equipment that obscures their viewing - which I am convinced is someone's scheme to get paid twice by having to move it again later. I'm not convinced that the signs have real time data, it often seems more like if the schedule was running perfectly there will be a train here in N minutes. I see things show up early all the time, occasionally the train don't show up at all but get dropped off sign.

It is interesting that somehow the conductors manage to get the marbles out of their mouth only for screaming at people for holding the doors open. I stick my foot in the door every time they do that - negative reinforcement. ;)

[carterklein13]

I thought it was just me that can never get the right god damn angle to see those signs! I swear the ones at Union Square I feel like a gymnast trying to just see how far away the next train is. Knowing the MTA, I'd guess your conspiracy is definitely at least partially true.

[bogomipz]

Indeed. Or they could simply use all of those LED displays that they installed above the subway entrances to show real time information about service changes and train arrivals instead of using them to show advertising.[1][2]

[1] https://www.mediabakery.com/AFS3899660

[2] https://freetoursbyfoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Red-a...

[Eridrus]

Signs on platforms in NYC are just intentionally obtuse. All the signs on the platforms themselves reference the end of the line bu street name, which nobody knows. Some places name a borough, which is what everyone actually wants to know, but is only ever on the mezzanine levels.

[chaosbutters314]

i hate using NYC subway. it is rarely.clear which train im getting on and where im going compared to say london, where i always know, very clearly. nyc assumes i know all the boroughs and train numbers while london shows you a huge map per train with where youre going.

[RoutinePlayer]

couldn't agree with you more

[ape4]

"My aunt's constipation" https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e84ddfa0-e06c-4026-b281-1ca4c95...

[nicoburns]

There's a station in London called "Cockfosters". I was once on a train with a malfunctioning announcement system that proudly announced "This is a Piccadilly line train to Cock" at every stop.