Walking in Cities
We tend to look to London as an exemplary city when it comes to transit, (particularly with the extensive network of trains and buses). But if you've ever emerged from a London tube station and felt a little disoriented - turns out you're not alone.
Trend Central cites a 2006 study underlying London's lack of infrastructure to encourage and support foot traffic. Many people are put off by inconsistent signage and confusion about distances between areas.
To solve this, Legible London was introduced to help the city be more walking friendly.
Very simply, Legible London is a system using three types of signage to simply and succinctly present information to pedestrians.
1. Wider signs: Tells you what you can find within a five minute walk in any direction
2. Taller narrower signs: Detailed information, and their height means that they can be seen from a distance
3. Finger posts: Traditional style signs pointing towards places of interest.
Legible London is a great way to encourage people to walk more (half of London car journeys are less than 2km, which is just 25 minutes' walk). Walking promotes good health, local economy and a reduction in pollution and congestion.
Do you think Metro Vancouver would benefit from a similar program?