Confederation Line West LRT Extension (Stage 2) [Tunney's to Baseline/Moodie] | U/C

[Acajack]

I really like Algonquin as a new name for Baseline Station.

[Ottawaresident]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Put me down as a fan of those maps. The more info the better!

Not if the station is cluttered. I like neat and clean stations.

The thing is that the line is built mainly in my opinion for commuters. If you don't know where your house is, I would have to ask a few questions. Tourists mainly stay in the downtown core. As far as I know very few attractions outside of downtown are served by the line.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Ottawaresident

Not if the station is cluttered. I like neat and clean stations.
.

Why would the maps clutter up the station? They're effectively posters on a wall. If there is signage (of all kinds) creating visual clutter, then prohibit ads. (Actually, this isn't an issue in Ottawa as there is very little advertising in stations compared to many cities. Not sure if more is in the plans.)

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Ottawaresident

The thing is that the line is built mainly in my opinion for commuters. If you don't know where your house is, I would have to ask a few questions. Tourists mainly stay in the downtown core. As far as I know very few attractions outside of downtown are served by the line.

That's like saying we don't need directional road signs because 90-95% of people on any given road are locals who'd know where they're going even if there were no signs.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I really like Algonquin as a new name for Baseline Station.

Put me down for this as well. Makes things simpler for everyone catching buses that are labelled 91 Algonquin instead of 91 Baseline.

[Ottawaresident]

Maybe add College to the end of Algonquin? Or is that a bad idea

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Ottawaresident

Maybe add College to the end of Algonquin? Or is that a bad idea

Is there really potential for confusion?

It seems to me that if someone in Ottawa says "I'm going to Algonquin", in terms of a destination 99% of people will think roughly of the corner of Baseline and Woodroffe.

There is no widespread ambiguity about what that name refers to.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

I don't think it's ugly at all... and as someone who's traveled Subways/Metros/Tubes all over the world, I find these types of maps immensely useful when arriving at an unfamiliar stop.

Great for getting bearings in a new neighbourhood... and always nice to see the various businesses and estimated walking times.

I have issues with that walking distance circle. First of all, with a grid street layout, a circle is a poor representation as you can't walk in a straight line to your destination, you have to follow streets. As a result, a diamond is typically a better shape to use. With the streets not running perpendicular to each other, it would get distorted into an irregular quadrilateral though.

Secondly, they drew the centre of the circle at the intersection of Holland and Scott but the station entrances are all further west. Properly the figure should be centred on the station.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Put me down for this as well. Makes things simpler for everyone catching buses that are labelled 91 Algonquin instead of 91 Baseline.

I fully agree. Changing Baseline to Algonquin is probably the most logical re-naming on the system. This was a long time coming.

Originally Posted by Ottawaresident

Not if the station is cluttered. I like neat and clean stations.

The thing is that the line is built mainly in my opinion for commuters. If you don't know where your house is, I would have to ask a few questions. Tourists mainly stay in the downtown core. As far as I know very few attractions outside of downtown are served by the line.

As long as maps are strategically placed in the stations, like near entrances/exits and concourse levels, cluttering shouldn't be an issue. It might be best to not have them at platform level because we don't want people crowding the area while hundreds more are trying to get in and out of trains.

At the moment, you're probably correct to think that Downtown is the main and only destination for the vast majority of tourists (outside the out-of-the-way museums) however, the O-Train gives us a chance to change that. I agree that the east end along the line has little to cater to the average tourist, but Wellington West, Westboro, Little Italy, Dow's Lake all have a cool urban vibe that tourists could enjoy. The river front park being developed by the NCC along the Sir John A. Parkway could also be attractive to tourists. That's 6 to 8 stations that could have decent traffic of out-of-towners.

Look at Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Tourists don't stick with downtown because urban rail systems draw them deeper into the city. They open up new possibilities. That could be us.

[Ottawaresident]

You have a good point. But if there are no tourists, how would this matter? Also, as far as cluttering goes, soon there will be ads, more maps and the station descends into chaos. But there is a good opportunity for nightlife tourism in Westboro, Hintonburg etc.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by roger1818

I have issues with that walking distance circle. First of all, with a grid street layout, a circle is a poor representation as you can't walk in a straight line to your destination, you have to follow streets. As a result, a diamond is typically a better shape to use. With the streets not running perpendicular to each other, it would get distorted into an irregular quadrilateral though.

Secondly, they drew the centre of the circle at the intersection of Holland and Scott but the station entrances are all further west. Properly the figure should be centred on the station.

Of course... most people should grasp that it's approximate (or at least represents a straight line estimate)... to get even more nit-picky, all people walk at different speeds so how does one define that rate?

In any event, I've seen these maps on many different systems and find them immensely useful as a general guide. J.OT13 makes a good point that even more information could be included (i.e. retail and restaurant strip along Wellington for a start).

Tourists are much more likely to jump on a subway than a bus, and I can see this "opening up" parts of the city to tourists that they otherwise would not have ventured into.

[lrt's friend]

I would like to see these maps show the connecting bus routes. Which bus routes go down which street and colour code them to frequency of service. Make these maps as useful to all users as possible.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I would like to see these maps show the connecting bus routes. Which bus routes go down which street and colour code them to frequency of service. Make these maps as useful to all users as possible.

Even better.

[Ottawaresident]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I would like to see these maps show the connecting bus routes. Which bus routes go down which street and colour code them to frequency of service. Make these maps as useful to all users as possible.

I quite like that idea. The area map could be improved, maybe not showing all the houses and instead points of interest. It looks very cluttered right now. Also, rather than color coding just have a "bus info" area and have all the schedules there. Maybe the bus info could be an alcove or something.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Ottawaresident

I quite like that idea. The area map could be improved, maybe not showing all the houses and instead points of interest. It looks very cluttered right now. Also, rather than color coding just have a "bus info" area and have all the schedules there. Maybe the bus info could be an alcove or something.

Worse than showing the houses is showing the driveways and parking lots in white. I do agree that neither is necessary.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

Of course... most people should grasp that it's approximate (or at least represents a straight line estimate)... to get even more nit-picky, all people walk at different speeds so how does one define that rate?

The general convention is that people walk 80 meters per minute so a 5 minute walk is 400m. That is an average. As you say, some walk faster and others walk slower. Most people have a grasp on if they are fast or slow walkers and can adjust accordingly. People don't have as good a grasp on how far they walk in meters (or feet)

[lrt's friend]

I like the buildings that are highlighted in yellow and then not identified. Also the symbol that almost looks like a flame that I think means a multi-use path. Maybe a more universal pedestrian and bike symbols might be easier to understand. The Wellington West retail district should be identified somehow.

[CityTech]

I'm not a fan of circles being used for walk distance. I'd rather the streets themselves be highlighted, say in dark blue if they're within a 5 minute walk and light blue if they're within a 10 minute walk.

[zzptichka]

Saw a similar map in Moscow: http://transport.mos.ru/common/upload/public/Map(1).png
Certainly they put more effort into it.

Originally Posted by CityTech

I'm not a fan of circles being used for walk distance. I'd rather the streets themselves be highlighted, say in dark blue if they're within a 5 minute walk and light blue if they're within a 10 minute walk.

You mean streets or buildings? Streets can be long...

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

You mean streets or buildings? Streets can be long...

I think CityTech meant the portion of the street that would be within walking distance. Although that would certainly be more accurate, it probably wouldn't be as clear and would look messier.