Blue Line Riders Helped by Dedicated Signage

June 17th, 2014

AlwaysShowBlueLinePIDSv2Some train arrival signs now always show the next Blue Line train, and it’s helping Blue Line riders determine their best route.

At rush times, Blue Line riders know they can sometimes see two or three Yellow or Orange Line trains go by before a Blue Line train arrives. For some riders, knowing just how far away the next Blue Line train is can help them decide: is it worth waiting, or should I get on the next train and transfer at L’Enfant Plaza?

To help Blue Line riders, Metro changed the arrival signs to always show the time until the next Blue Line train arrives, even if it’s more than three trains away.  That means that riders can always tell how far away a Blue Line train is, and decide whether to wait for it, or use the Yellow Line instead.

The changes are not going unnoticed.  A new survey shows that 53% of Blue Line riders said they’ve noticed the change, and of those, 75% said they believed the information was helpful for them in making decisions about which train to take.

The arrival signs at locations have been modified where they are most useful to Blue Line riders:

  • On the inbound platforms and mezzanines at all stations between Pentagon and Van Dorn Street (including King St-Old Town, Braddock Road, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Crystal City, Pentagon City)
  • On the westbound platforms at all stations between Smithsonian and Rosslyn (including Federal Triangle, Metro Center, McPherson Sq, Farragut West, and Foggy Bottom-GWU)
  • On the mezzanines at Farragut West, McPherson Sq, Foggy Bottom-GWU, and Rosslyn.  (We modified the signs on the mezzanines at these stations, since a rider must choose their direction immediately after walking through the faregates.)

These signs will continue to show a Blue Line train even as the Silver Line opens.

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  1. Stephen
    June 17th, 2014 at 11:36 | #1

    Great idea. I had noticed this but not realized that it was a deliberate change. Could you do the same on the Green/Yellow pair as well? I had an experience on a Nationals game day when the signs showed three Green Line trains, but no Yellow line trains.

  2. Low Headways
    June 17th, 2014 at 13:11 | #2

    @Stephen
    Were you heading to or from the game? There’s a good chance that they were terminating Yellows at Mt. Vernon Sq. and thus there actually were nothing but Greens servicing your station.

    Build that pocket track at Fort Totten already! (Or just run all Yellows all the way to Greenbelt!)

  3. June 17th, 2014 at 17:40 | #3

    So with the start of the silver line, will the boards all show one Orange, one Blue, and one Silver?

  4. Justin
    June 18th, 2014 at 11:05 | #4

    @SaveTheBlueLine Almost – the boards at these location will show the next three trains, but if the next Blue Line train is more than 3 trains away, the Blue Line will still be shown.

  5. Trey
    June 18th, 2014 at 13:30 | #5

    Cant put a pocket trck in Ft. totten. Too much track activity with the crossover AND the Red Line connection that allows Green Lines trains to move to the Red Line after W. hyattsville…Just run all Yellows to Greenbelt!

  6. June 23rd, 2014 at 17:39 | #6

    I’ve had Stephen’s problem before — waiting for a southbound Yellow from L’Enfant, sometimes there will be a whole bunch of Greens queued for baseball crowds, but no Yellow.

  7. schroedinger_
    June 24th, 2014 at 22:07 | #7

    @Low Headways
    Presumably he had to be trying to go south? Since if you’re at L’Enfant going north and don’t need to get past Ft Totten, you don’t care which color train comes.

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