| 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. |
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:
9th<-- 35&8 -->7th