The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority began including more information on signs in its rail stations Monday.
The electronic signs, which Metro officially calls Passenger Information Displays, now inform riders about platform elevator outages, system delays and upcoming train arrivals.
“We listened to our customers,” Metro General Manager John Catoe said. “They told us they wanted to see train arrival information prior to entering the fare gates.” Previously, the signs near the fare card machines on the stations’ mezzanine levels did not display information about arriving trains, such as the train’s destination and how long a passenger would have to wait for it. The signs on the station platforms, on the other hand, did not have information about elevator outages.
“These new signs give riders an opportunity to make informed decisions before entering the station,” Metro Riders Advisory Council Chairman Michael Snyder said.
Metro has made improving the amount of information available to customers a priority this year.
In February, the transit system installed cylinder-shaped kiosks outside the Shady Grove and the Vienna/Fairfax stations and 46-inch flat-screen monitors outside the Silver Spring, Rosslyn and Gallery Place-Chinatown stations. A kiosk and monitor were also installed at different entrances to the Gallery Place-Chinatown Station.
The screens tell passengers when the next three trains will pull in, the length of any delays, which buses serve the station and which elevators are out of service throughout the system. At the end of the year, Metro will decide whether to install the outside monitors and kiosks at other rail stations.
