TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Because Metrolinx thinks we're too dumb to handle that.
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Because Metrolinx thinks we're too dumb to handle that.
Johnny Au
Superstar
If we use Metrolinx convention, then what do we name Bloor-Yonge station? Reference Library? Oh, and Donforth Village should be spelled "Danforth Village." Ossington should be renamed "Bloorcourt Village" on the map.
I never understood some of the station names on the Shanghai Metro as well (that system prohibits duplicate station names, causing some of the stations to be named after nearby side streets and some after communes).
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salsa
Senior Member
Hudson Bay Centre, kinda like Peachtree Centre station in Atlanta. Somehow I missed that one.
Bloorcourt Village sounds way too similar to Bloordale Village, plus there's also a Bloor West Village. Maybe I could change it to Dovercourt Park, but that's beside the point which was my attempt to demonstrate the ridiculousness and impracticality of Metrolinx's way of thinking.
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Tuscani01
Senior Member
But then everyone will confuse Vaughan with Vaughan Metropolitan! That's one mistake I hope nobody ever has to make!
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
What's this obsession with naming stations after street names anyways? Naming them after neighbourhoods is a fairly well established practice pretty much everywhere - and as the subway/transit system expands, you will end up with an increasingly unwieldy amount of duplication and hypennated station names because you inevitably will build stations by grid. Time to get away from that. People don't have any issues figuring out where to get to with station names like Yorkdale, Osgoode, Downsview, St. Patrick or St. Andrew (nor will they with Pioneer Village, VMC, York University), and they aren't about to just because Metrolinx chose this naming convention.
AoD
AoD
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Tuscani01
Senior Member
Whats this obsession with getting away from hyphenated names and switching to neighborhood names which don't mean anything to people in terms of where they want to go? Time to get away from that. People know Dufferin street. They don't know Fairbank.
When I think about my grandmother, using the TTC and not knowing English, dealing with Dufferin Station twice, on Eglinton and Bloor, is much easier than dealing with Fairbank. She knows Toronto's streets pretty well, but start tossing in neighbourhood names, and shes confused.
With Dufferin being a major North-South route in the city, I think it makes sense to include the name Dufferin in the station name, as it not only points to the cross-street, but also to the bus route that will be feeding the station. For those who don't make their way around the area often, knowing they are at Dufferin can help them understand where they are within the city. The bus already refers to it as Dufferin without confusing anyone. Why does that need to change?
sixrings
Senior Member
I live on Eglinton and the problem is that I never identify Dufferin as Fairbank and when I think of Keele I think KEELE... I don't understand why the above ground stops have no problems with hyphenated names but the underground stations want to go away from that. In regards to other station names like Osgoode I think we have just become use to it. There may be a few exceptions like Museum, Science Center, or Yorkdale that Im ok with theme based names... Otherwise Id much prefer just knowing where I am.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Just think what would happen if it is say, Keele that we are dealing with - you'd have Keele (Bloor-Keele), Eglinton-Keele, Finch-Keele (if not for the alternate name of Finch West, which itself is also problematic should there be a future station along Finch). Also, these names are not error proof - if you just mentioned Keele and neglected to provide the E-W line information (which will inevitably happen), someone will have 3 different options to choose from (if not more, in the future). Why create opportunity for confusion?
AoD
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
People will quickly learn to say what line the station is on. It's no more difficult than using cross streets to identify locations (Keele & Finch, for example). We've literally been doing it for centuries.
sixrings
Senior Member
AOD I just want to start by saying that I do not believe that this is completely a metrolinx issue.. Any agency could have come up with this even if I disagree... I think that having the cross streets at least help me navigate ( if I make a mistake then that is on me) Toronto is more or less built on a grid and street names help us navigate it. The problem with the theme based names is that for most of these places the names are not necessarily explainable by common sense. I mean I know why Museum is museum (THE ROM) or St Andrews is St Andrews (because of the church) but I may memorize but I will never have a clue what Fairbank is just by the surroundings.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
That's grasping at straws. All of our surface routes duplicate street names now and it doesn't cause an issue. Who just says meet me at Keele? That doesn't happen today, and it won't happen tomorrow.
Even if you said meet me at Keele today, I wouldn't know what you were referring to. Keele and what would be my next question.
44 North
Senior Member
Bah, I don't get the sentiment I'm reading or see the problem with obscure station names. Perhaps we should just get rid of street names altogether and use numbers instead? And in place of neighborhood names just ID blocks by their number. Sure it will make things boring and suburban, but at least it'll be easy to navigate the city!
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
In my experience, people usually have at best a vague idea where stations named after named after neighbourhoods are located. For example, few people (who aren't regularly in the area) remember where or on what street St. Andrew, Osgoode or St. Patrick are. They may, at best, know that it's on the southern half of University Line, and that's only because the three stations happened to be grouped together. If these three stations were randomly distributed throughout the system, it would be even more difficult to locate them.
I also don't buy these arguments that people will come to associate the name with the neighbourhood. 50 years after the University Line opened, I don't expect that any of you could tell me a thing about the St. Patrick, Osgoode or St. Andrew parishes. Nobody in Toronto associates those names with a geographic area. If you told someone you were in St. Andrew, that person would have no clue what you were talking about. People in Toronto don't understand why those stations were given those names, but accept the names because that's just the way it is.
Station names are navigation tools and thus must be instantly identifiable whenever possible. If most Toronto residents have to go on Google to figure out the location of a station, you've probably failed to name the station correctly. "Dufferin & Eglinton" is instantly identifiable. "Fairbank" is not.
sixrings
Senior Member
you know north... I was tempted to write that in my last post. Numbering the streets is not a bad idea. The problem is that the our street grid is so far apart I don't think that makes sense outside of downtown. I realize you were most likely being sarcastic but it has crossed my mind several times. Perhaps you are right that people seem to be making a big deal out of it, but it just doesn't seem to make too much sense.. Again why are the underground station hyphen opposed versus the surface stops which seems to embrace it?
sixrings
Senior Member
The Tiger Master at least St Andrews or St Patricks were known destinations at the time the subway was named. Perhaps not anymore. But I doubt Fairbank will ever come back into vogue.