signage part 2: neighborhood maps and navigation

One of the most striking examples of the vast signage redesign set out by STM comes in the form of the new neighborhood maps, or "vicinity" maps, currently being deployed at various stations. I encourage a quick review of this in video form, if you're rusty on these.

This is one of the most interesting changes set out by STM because it is a complete overhaul of the way the agency is informing users about the metro's surroundings. Although these maps are referred to as "updates," there are many ways in which they constitute an entirely new feature. This is because these "vicinity maps" barely existed prior to this redesign. The only examples I found of the previous generation were hidden in the corners of Mont-Royal and Guy-Concordia stations.

Their placement within their respective stations seems to tell the story pretty succinctly - these are awful, confusing, ugly, and vastly unhelpful maps. It would be pointless to critique them: they're almost out of circulation anyways, and finding flaws in these poorly conceived displays would best be likened to shooting fish in a barrel.

More importantly, however, this begs the question: what is STM's approach to informing its customers about station surroundings, and how is it changing?

Previous Generation

If the previous generation's neighborhood maps are difficult to find, then their alternative is exactly the opposite.

At most stations, these are the only maps or diagrams displaying anything other than the metro system itself. They are littered everywhere - in station entrances, plazas and platforms. Here's a close-up of what downtown looks like on these behemoths:

It's infuriating that so much space in the metro is wasted for maps as embarrassingly useless as these. The only information a user could glean off of this display in a reasonable amount of time is the general shape of the island of Montreal itself. There are so many issues here: there's way too much information, the area encompassed by the map is much too large, none of the data is organized or prioritized, and everything is cluttered. Simply put, this is a stressful and vastly unsuccessful wayfinding experience.

Ironically, the gargantuan information overload means that the map ends up having no functional purpose, and even if you managed to use it for something, it would probably involve missing a train
or two. This defeats the purpose of signage in the metro entirely. It is lazy: STM tried to make a one-map-fits-all, throwing whatever it deemed semi-useful into it, and made a one-map-fits-none.

While the new neighborhood maps do not appear to be replacing these, they appear to signify that STM is addressing a clear gap in the information provided to its riders. Sure, a user can easily understand the metro network itself, but connecting to nearby bus service or finding one's way in the area surrounding a given metro stop is not something STM has previously been at all helpful with.

The New "Vicinity" Maps

In the video I linked to at the top of this post, the narrator gives a sterling example of the new vicinity map in use at Beaubien station. A feature she stresses is the circle indicating the 5-minute walking radius of the station. Here's the new map in use elsewhere (click for larger images, and please excuse the fact that I am not a professional photographer):

Wait a moment...
Here's the one at Beaubien again, for comparison's sake.

Hilariously, this 5-minute walking radius is only functionally used at one station where these new maps are - and conveniently, it's the one advertised in the video. This is a criminally basic design flaw! All of the other maps have areas cut off from this radius (including the one for McGill station, which is not in this set of photos). If the displays are designed to show the area surrounding the metro station, they should be centered around the station, or at least have an even geographic sample of the nearby neighborhood.

Once past this pathetic inconsistency, however, there are a few redeeming improvements made in these displays. For example, at Square-Victoria-OACI, the multiple exits of the stations are coded exactly as they are on the signs within the station itself, with the letters in red boxes. As I mentioned in my previous article, this is essential. It creates a visual connection between map and sign, allowing the map to expand on the information previously provided by the sign.

More generally, STM has realized that informing its customers of the areas surrounding stations can only be done station-by-station, not with a massive, one-size-fits-all map. They've lined up the styling well with the other elements of the signage redesign, and the area encompassed by the maps is generally about the right size, if, as previously mentioned, poorly cropped.

Although it is great that the clumsy lines tracing bus routes, used in previous generations of STM's maps, are gone, the integration of the bus system needs to improve. The biggest issue is that there are too many bus stops shown. Instead of cluttering the map with literally every stop in the area, each bus route should only have the closest stop in each direction displayed on the map. This would not only tidy things up, but it would also make the user experience for bus transfers miles better. Riders would not have to guess which stop is closest, and would have an easier time finding where to go in the first place.

Another issue is the annoying orientation of these maps: each map displays north to be in a different direction. This is confusing. Quite honestly, the clearest directional cue in these maps is the otherwise useless, colored line depicting the metro tunnel's position. STM aligned these maps with the orientation in real-life of the stations themselves, but this is unhelpful when they are displayed at a vertical angle on a wall, especially underground.

More generally, it's peculiar that north is all of the sudden an important directional indicator. Never before has STM repeatedly used it to indicate direction. Additionally, the entire city of Montreal - not just STM - uses a "north" that is really much closer to east-northeast, which is why changing metro signage to use true north as a primary direction is confusing.

To solve this issue, STM could experiment with aligning the maps as they appear in the metro diagram, as the one at Atwater station is (see above). To clarify this choice, it could keep the metro line in the map (as it is already). Once again, this is an issue of consistency and conformity within the system as a whole. Orienting the station maps with the metro diagram provides one more connection that the user automatically makes between signage elements.

Lastly, these maps abuse the classic arrow indicator too much. A close look reveals that the same arrow is used for three different purposes: a bus stop marker, an indicator of an entrance to the metro (this is only really visible at Square-Victoria-OACI), and the direction in which a metro exit is oriented. Although the markers are all slightly different (one is encircled, one is red, one is just a plain arrow), it still creates a confusing visual overlap, especially when these elements are placed right next to each other.

Overall, I'm very pleased that STM has addressed the lack of information it provides regarding the metro's surroundings. The new maps focus on a much more appropriate neighborhood area and display mostly relevant and important data. Their styling and display is generally well aligned with the rest of the new signage system. However, much like in previous generations, these displays suffer from information overload and basic, solvable inconsistencies, but these are very logical products of the overhaul STM is rightfully making to wayfinding outside of its own metro system.