Bay Area Rapid TransitSign System Analysis

Presenter: Eric Rozell

Sign System

Image from http://www.bart.gov

Types of SignsSign Type

Bold-face words index

Non-emphasized words Index

Colored lines index, symbol

White circles symbol

Perpendicular line markers index

“Dashed” colored lines index

Airplane icon icon

Library, Cognitive, and Social Science Principles

• Realizes that not all travelers are “experts”– System navigable using only simple geography and

pattern matching• Organization of information by geography– Imagine a table of routes and stops…

• Signs by convention– Using colors for routes– White circles for transfer stations

Is this an “expert” system?

This is bad.

Image from http://www.wmata.com

Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics

• Pragmatics - Context! – Map provides geographic reference, stations

provide remaining context• Semantics – Do rails run actually side-by-side?– No.

Information Model

Questions?