Ottawa Sun article;
Quote:
OC Transpo must finalize LRT station names, train designs this summer
OC Transpo is playing the name game for the $2.1-billion LRT line and it’s under pressure to make some quick decisions.
The transit and rail departments have invited three commissioners — councillors Diane Deans, Katherine Hobbs and citizen member Blair Crew — to sit on a working group to determine the station names and specific design elements.
For example, Transpo must settle on paint schemes for inside and outside the LRT trains and how the nose of the trains will look. That information will inform the train manufacturer, Alstom, as it builds the Citadis Spirit trains for the Rideau Transit Group.
Deans, chairwoman of the transit commission, said the naming scheme must be intuitive for residents and tourists.
“I think it’s going to have to be simple,” Deans said Wednesday.
“We’re going to have to look at a lot of the stations and have names that provide a location that people easily and readily understand. I don’t think we want to get too flowery about how we go about naming it. I think we want to be very practical in the approach.”
Deans said Transpo will look at ways to consult the public but the deadlines are coming quick.
Alstom must have some of the details by August. Station names must also be sorted out by then.
“The timelines are tighter than we originally had anticipated,” Deans said. “We don’t have a lot of time. We have to get on with it.”
Transpo GM John Marconi said RTG needs “baseline information” during the LRT construction.
“There’s a hierarchy with the process. You have to name the system, you have to name the lines, you have to name the stations,” Marconi said.
“With respect to how you do that, there are principles in the transit industry that are used. Do you go with street names? Do you go with landmarks? You make it functional and whatever public engagement we do, (Deans) has been clear she wants the public involved in that. It’s about managing what that engagement strategy is.”
Deans doesn’t anticipate all 13 station names currently on the map will change but placeholders like Downtown West and Downtown East will need better names to provide more information about their locations.
Transpo will also have to determine if it should stick with “Confederation Line,” which is currently the working name for the 12.5-km LRT.
“People seem to like that line name, but is there something else? I don’t know at this point,” Deans said.
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http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/05/15/...ns-this-summer
Hierarchy according to J.OT13
System name: metro
Line name: Confederation
Stations;
Downtown West; Lyon or Place de Ville
Downtown East; Metcalfe, Parliement, World Exchange or Confederation (requires O-Train station name change, maybe to Heron)
Campus; University or University of Ottawa
Train; Stadium, Tremblay or rename the VIA and the ORT stations after someone deserving
No other changes.
But, while we are at it, lets play the name game for the western extension;
Westboro; Metropole (I don't like the surrounding street names)
Dominion; Westboro
Baseline; Algonquin or Algonquin College
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