MetroLink will get colorful
By Shane Graber and Elisa Crouch
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/18/2005
Just a little splash of color can add Big City status to your favorite rail system.
Picture this. It's 2006, and you're standing at the downtown MetroLink station at Eighth and Pine. A tourist asks, "Hey, how do I get to the Sunnen Business Park in Maplewood?"
We're not sure why a tourist would want to go there, but play along.
"Take the Red Line west to Forest Park, get off, then catch the Green Line," you tell the traveler. "You can't miss it."
Of course she couldn't miss it, because there would be just two lines. But she doesn't know that. And it sounds so cool. There's something about a transfer on a rail system that makes it sound all grown up.
We discovered the line names on a bus stop advertisement. It mentioned the new Green Line, the eight-mile addition from Forest Park to Clayton and down to Shrewsbury.
The name was adopted years ago, said Cathie Farroll, a Metro spokeswoman. We never heard a word about it.
"The color designation will become more important when we have both lines in operation," she said. "It is a quick way for passengers to orient themselves to the route they're on and to find their locations on the line maps.
"It's also helpful for passengers who may not be fluent in English or who struggle with reading skills."
We have colorblind friends who might have trouble, but you can't please everyone. Besides, the line names give us transit street cred.
Consider the Chicago Transit Authority. It has a red and green line. And yellow, purple, brown, blue and orange.
Maybe we're lucky to have it so simple. The New York City subway system has 29 different lines. You've got lines 1 through 9, with two different 5s, 6s and 7s. And there is no 8 train. There are also trains lettered A through Z. There are a few letters missing and two different Q trains.
Red and green aren't sounding to bad, huh? Maybe we could have a friendly rivalry, too. Folks who live on the Red Line can argue their line is better than the Green Line. And vice versa. And maybe dueling softball teams.
By Shane Graber and Elisa Crouch
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/18/2005
Just a little splash of color can add Big City status to your favorite rail system.
Picture this. It's 2006, and you're standing at the downtown MetroLink station at Eighth and Pine. A tourist asks, "Hey, how do I get to the Sunnen Business Park in Maplewood?"
We're not sure why a tourist would want to go there, but play along.
"Take the Red Line west to Forest Park, get off, then catch the Green Line," you tell the traveler. "You can't miss it."
Of course she couldn't miss it, because there would be just two lines. But she doesn't know that. And it sounds so cool. There's something about a transfer on a rail system that makes it sound all grown up.
We discovered the line names on a bus stop advertisement. It mentioned the new Green Line, the eight-mile addition from Forest Park to Clayton and down to Shrewsbury.
The name was adopted years ago, said Cathie Farroll, a Metro spokeswoman. We never heard a word about it.
"The color designation will become more important when we have both lines in operation," she said. "It is a quick way for passengers to orient themselves to the route they're on and to find their locations on the line maps.
"It's also helpful for passengers who may not be fluent in English or who struggle with reading skills."
We have colorblind friends who might have trouble, but you can't please everyone. Besides, the line names give us transit street cred.
Consider the Chicago Transit Authority. It has a red and green line. And yellow, purple, brown, blue and orange.
Maybe we're lucky to have it so simple. The New York City subway system has 29 different lines. You've got lines 1 through 9, with two different 5s, 6s and 7s. And there is no 8 train. There are also trains lettered A through Z. There are a few letters missing and two different Q trains.
Red and green aren't sounding to bad, huh? Maybe we could have a friendly rivalry, too. Folks who live on the Red Line can argue their line is better than the Green Line. And vice versa. And maybe dueling softball teams.
