SPATIAL ORIENTATION IN A SUBWAY SYSTEM

The absence of a clear structural legibility within the New York City subway system tends to make its users dependent on other informational aids about its structural design and operations-such as signs, announcements, and especially the official New York City subway map and guide. The effectiveness of the New York City subway guide was tested by assigning 20 subjects a travel route which consisted of four trip-segments of varying difficulty. Of the total 80 trip segments, only 37 were traveled via acceptable (as determined by authors) solutions, with subjects having more difficulty planning acceptable solutions for more complex trip-segments. Interviews revealed that subjects felt insecure traveling the subway because the graphics in the system did not serve to reinforce their train selections. The findings suggest that the New York City subway system needs an improved map to guide its passengers as well as better systemwide graphics. /Author/ /TRRL/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00139165
• Corporate Authors:

  Sage Publications Limited

  St George's House, 44 Hatton Garden
  London,   England 
• Authors:
  • Bronzaft, A L
  • Dobrow, S B
  • O'Hanlon, T J
• Publication Date: 1976-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 575-594
• Serial:
  • Environment and Behavior
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0013-9165
  • EISSN: 1552-390X
  • Serial URL: http://eab.sagepub.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Graphics; Human factors; Interviewing; Itinerary; Maps; Passenger security; Passenger service; Rail transit stations; Rapid transit; Subways
• Identifier Terms: New York City Transit Authority
• Uncontrolled Terms: Selection
• Geographic Terms: United States
• ITRD Terms: 1041: Depot (transp); 9147: Interview; 4074: Map; 9072: Selection; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00156890
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 4 1982 12:00AM