Advocates give TTC station a makeover to spur city to fund new wayfinding system

Transit advocates gave a TTC subway station a makeover early Friday, posting their own signs and adding stickers to existing signs and maps, in an effort to push the city to fund a new TTC wayfinding system.

Members of the group, TTCriders, installed the signs and stickers at Line 1's King station in downtown Toronto. The signage contained directions to platforms and stops, to help transit riders better navigate the city's transit system. 

The TTC has put together what it calls a "proposed interim wayfinding strategy," but it is not fully costed and not yet funded. The strategy is expected to be considered by the TTC board later this year.

Joe Craib, a volunteer with TTCriders, said the group believes the transit system's existing wayfinding system is outdated and inconsistent and that city council needs to fully fund a new strategy.

"One of the problems with the TTC is that we have this hodgepodge of signage from multiple different eras with contradicting information. So part of the emphasis for this design was to unify everything together and give a good clean look that gives people all of the information they need to navigate their way through the system," he said.

In a news release, Craib said: "You shouldn't get lost while taking the TTC, but it can feel like a maze because of the confusing or outdated signs in subway stations."

The release said the signage installed Friday included detailed descriptions of streetcar routes, alphanumeric exit labels, and large signs clarifying the different types of transit served by the station. TTCriders said it designed the new signage with the following in mind: 

• Improved streetcar signs with clearer information. 
• Labelling exits so riders know how to get out of the station to where they're going.
• The necessary information at a given decision point.
• Accessible information so that riders can navigate the system, no matter what language they speak and no matter their abilities.

Signs put up 'illegally' and removed: TTC

Craib added that the group did not expect the TTC to keep the new signage in place and it did not. The signs were removed about an hour or two after they were put up.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the advocates created work for TTC employees, who had to tear all the signs down, but he understands it was an attempt to draw attention to the issue of wayfinding.

"The posters were up illegally. The signs were up illegally, so we did have to go in and remove it. That did mean that we were taking people from other duties. There will be a cost associated with that," he said.

"Some of it was put up with material that is not as easy to just pull off. It also takes staff away from other priorities. It's a bit of an inconvenience. We understand the point they are trying to make."

As for the proposed wayfinding strategy, Green said: "The strategy is unfunded, largely because we don't have any cost around it yet."

Green said TTC staff will put together a budget for the strategy and present the plan to the TTC board and city council later this year.

"We will make a very compelling case. We will put forward a comprehensive business case as to what we need to make the wayfinding modern, make it a world standard, and that costing will be sorted out."