Transit systems in metropolitan areas around the world transport millions of people every day, taking them out of traffic jams and getting them from one place to another via trains and buses reasonably well — and having been born and raised in the city of New York, I was a passenger on its subway system for nine years in order to go to high school, college, and then to work…
More Metropolitan Transit Rail Systems Should Have This Simple Feature.
…but one of the aspects of the subway system in New York and certain other cities is that once the ride is complete and you get to your stop, how do you know which way is the best way for you to get out if the station consists of multiple exits?
Exiting at least a block away from where you wanted to go or exiting on the wrong side of a busy thoroughfare is not all that unusual in Manhattan, despite the otherwise clear signage — especially at stations which are underground and served by multiple subway lines — but the Seoul Transportation Corporation is an example of one of the subway systems which remedies that potential problem.
The train stations themselves are assigned a unique number; so even if you do not understand Korean or English, you still know exactly which station to use — and the unique numbers of the train stations on each side of the main part of the sign also let you know from which way the train is coming and which way the train is headed.
Stations in both subway systems in New York and Seoul have multiple exits; but unlike the ones I experienced for years in New York, the exits in the stations of the subway system in Seoul are numbered so that you know which one to take to get as close to your destination as possible — or so that you can easily report your location in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Often, businesses and merchants will give directions via what is more popularly known as the Seoul Metro and inform you as to which exit is the most efficient to get to their locations — and you always know which is the next station in either direction on the subway line on which you are traveling.
Final Boarding Call
This solution may cost some money for signage and the hours that would be consumed by people who implement this otherwise simple system — but it is one which should be implemented in all transit systems around the world, in my opinion.
All photographs ©2014 by Brian Cohen.
