Transportation has been in the headlines since the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal was signed into law at the end of last year. This new law promises to infuse American transportation infrastructure with funds for critical upgrades, including $66 billion allocated for passenger freight and rail and $39 billion for public transit.
While the impact on the New York region remains to be seen, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has already made significant improvements in the past decade with several high-profile projects soon coming to completion. Via Collective has had the opportunity to work on several of these public-facing projects, applying our extensive transportation wayfinding expertise to support this critical service that keeps New York City moving.
Transportation hubs can be an intimidating place – if you ever experienced Penn Station during rush hour pre-pandemic, you’ll know this first-hand. This feeling can be compounded if you’re a first-time visitor – the strangeness of a new city, possibly a new language, adds to the stress and bewilderment of being in a crowded station looking for a train that departs in minutes. Good wayfinding becomes an issue of safety and security in these environments – when throngs of commuters are making their way to a platform, any obstacle that impedes forward movement can be a hazard, including other passengers standing still, looking for signage.
EAST END GATEWAY | 33RD STREET ENTRANCE
The 33rd Street Entrance is the first phase of improvement to the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Train Hall in New York City’s Penn Station. The canopy entrance opened on New Year’s Eve 2020 in tandem with the Moynihan Train Hall, a project nearly three decades in the making. The 33rd Street Entrance provides direct access to the LIRR Train Hall on the corner of 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, easing pedestrian flow and providing an iconic street-level landmark for Penn Station.
Photo Credit: Assaf Evron
Via Collective is part of the AECOM USA design team and brought the project to completion during the design-build phase led by principal contractor, Skanska USA Civil NE. The signage was developed in close collaboration with Skidmore-Owings and Merrill (SOM), the architect of record, and included input and final design approval from the MTA-LIRR. The canopy itself is a complex glass and steel structure that rises 50 feet above street level, framing views of the Empire State Building, and enhancing the commuter experience when exiting the station on any of its three escalators or stair.
Photo credit: Assaf Evron
The signage on the canopy transom confirms the entry to Penn Station as commuters arrive at the plaza on 33rd Street and 7th Avenue. The transom was selected as the ideal location for signage to ensure legibility from multiple vantage points without cluttering the structure. Like the Oculus at the World Trade Center or the glass canopies at Hudson Yards, people looking for Penn Station can recognize this landmark from a distance. The transom signage also provides additional connection information upon arrival.
Photo credit: Assaf Evron
The canopy transom was designed at an angle to the ground plane, and signage mounted flush to its surface would have decreased legibility. Therefore after multiple design studies, the letterforms and graphics were extruded into the face of the transom, positioning them perpendicular to the ground plane as well as the pedestrian path of travel. This design decision seamlessly integrates the letterforms into the canopy structure, ensuring that they are highly visible to users entering from the street or surrounding plaza.
Photo credit: Assaf Evron
The typeface and symbols follow MTA signage guidelines, maintaining graphic consistency across the system at large. Consistency is an important aspect of wayfinding, indicating to viewers that individual elements are part of a greater whole, and that they can be trusted as part of a cohesive network.
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD CONCOURSE
In Spring 2019, Phase II of the LIRR Train Hall improvements entered schematic design. Via Collective once again joined the AECOM USA team, developing the wayfinding strategy and signage design. We continue our work on the final design as part of the design-build team and are looking forward to the scheduled opening of the fully renovated train hall in early 2023.
Phase II of the LIRR Concourse improvements will include an expansion of the 33rd Street Concourse which will dramatically increase pedestrian capacity in Penn Station. Raised ceiling heights, new finishes, improved lighting, and comprehensive wayfinding will all contribute to a successful passenger experience, elevating Penn Station to the level that one would expect from the largest transportation hub in New York City.
Image credit: The Metropolitan Transit Authority
Via Collective is working closely with station architects, engineers, and stakeholders to design and implement the new pedestrian wayfinding system. This new system is designed around foundational wayfinding principles aimed at increasing reliability and consistency, with the objective of reducing confusion and stress for customers. Signage will be positioned perpendicular to the path of pedestrian travel, directly in the field of vision so that people do not have to search for signage around them. Clear information hierarchy will be established with the use of scale and color. When signage is implemented in this way, customers feel a sense of safety and security that they can easily navigate the station – catching their train, connecting to the subway, or finding the closest exit with confidence.
Image credit: The Metropolitan Transit Authority
The principle of progressive disclosure will be implemented throughout the system. By providing select information at the appropriate decision point, pedestrians receive the information they need when they need it. Directing people to every destination at every point in their journey creates an overload of information that only increases confusion.
Additionally, we have prioritized the most direct route for infrequent and new visitors, even though there may be multiple routes to a destination. Regular visitors will have their route of preference, but for those relying on wayfinding for the first time, the signs indicate the least circuitous route to avoid confusion. Eliminating instances where one destination is signed in competing directions eases station navigation.
Intuitive information hierarchy will be applied to the messaging, and destinations organized by color will help visitor comprehension after just a few instances of reading the signs. This will enable them to form a mental map of the station. For example, exits to the street, inter-station transfers, and customer services (i.e. waiting room, restroom, etc.) are considered three separate typologies of information. Each typology will be graphically consistent across the system so that viewers know where to look for their destination with each new sign they encounter.
Iconography will be integrated into the messaging so that visitors with low English literacy can navigate the space with ease. Accessible routes will be clearly defined, and following all ADA laws, braille signage will instill trust for low-vision visitors.
When well designed, a multifunctional wayfinding system allows you to move with ease and confidence to get you where you are going, without noticing that you’re using the system at all! Our goal is to increase the speed, efficiency, and ease of the navigational experience for Penn Station customers, so that making a connection or finding an exit is a smooth and intuitive process.
PENN STATION ACCESS
The Penn Station Access project will transform the commute of thousands of Metro-North Railroad (MNR) riders, providing a direct rail route to the west side of Manhattan from the east Bronx and Connecticut. MNR will expand its service by upgrading and utilizing available Amtrak right-of-way, establishing four new accessible stops in underserved areas of the eastern Bronx. Not only will this transit equity project provide new transportation options for these neighborhoods, it will also create direct access to Penn Station from Westchester and Connecticut along the New Haven Line, which currently only serves Grand Central Terminal. Conversely, it will facilitate commutes to job centers in the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut, increasing accessibility and drawing workers to these areas.
Image credit: The Metropolitan Transit Authority
Via Collective was part of the preliminary design team led by HNTB. Working closely with HNTB architects and other consultant groups, we developed a comprehensive wayfinding program for the four new stations at Hunts Point, Parkchester-Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City. Using the signage standards and guidelines that MNR uses across all its stations, we designed these wayfinding programs based on the principles of progressive disclosure and nomenclature consistency, ensuring that all passengers in the station could utilize the system to effectively navigate the space.
EAST SIDE ACCESS
One could say that the East Side Access project has been more than 60 years in the making. Originally conceptualized in the early sixties, the idea was to create a LIRR terminal in Grand Central, alleviating cross-town congestion and reducing commute times to Manhattan’s east side. The first tunnels were completed in the early 1970s, but a lack of funding led to a halt in construction and the infrastructure lay dormant for decades. The project was revived in the mid-90s with the support of then-Senator Al D’Amato and Governor George Pataki, and finally received critical funding through the Rebuild and Renew Transportation Bond Act of 2005.
Katie Osborn, Principal of Via Collective, began working on the program while consulting with CVEDesign in 2008. In 2015, the contract for Construction Phase Services was awarded to Via Collective and we continue to work on this project to date, with expected completion in 2022.
The original wayfinding concept for East Side Access was designed to align with the existing Grand Central Terminal wayfinding system. The objective was to maintain consistent graphic and messaging standards throughout the entire terminal, providing a cohesive experience for visitors. Though Grand Central is a nexus where MNR, New York City Transit (NYCT) and now LIRR meet, visitors experience the terminal as a single destination and so the wayfinding should reinforce that idea.
Image credit: The Metropolitan Transit Authority
With this guiding principle in mind, the nomenclature, typeface, and icons of East Side Access will match the existing Grand Central Terminal wayfinding system. Additionally, much of the signage will be integrated into architectural elements – messaging will appear on the stonework and archways as it does in the existing terminal, eliminating the need for ceiling mounted signs.
Image credit: The Metropolitan Transit Authority
When East Side Access opens in December 2022, riders will find a new eight-track LIRR concourse almost 100 feet below the existing Grand Central Terminal. This incredible feat of engineering is predicted to reduce subway congestion at Penn Station, as well as overcrowding on the number 7 subway line.
Via Collective is honored to work on these large-scale infrastructure projects as they play a critical role in improving the region’s transportation options for the public. These individual endeavors are part of a greater vision for transforming the networks in and around New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; increasing accessibility and connections across the tri-state area.
Via Collective believes that at the core of wayfinding strategy and design is a duty to improve the public experience. For this reason, we have been working on transportation infrastructure projects for more than a decade, helping people on their journey home, to work, to see family and friends. Transportation hubs can be an intimidating and frustrating place for visitors, but with accessible design that prioritizes user experience, good wayfinding facilitates seamless navigation and eases the stress of a person’s journey.