Apologies in advance, this is going to be a long message.
I agree that they shouldn’t have announcements over the intercom with STM codes that should just be on the radio they already use. It’s not useful to people waiting, it’s really for workers only.
I also agree on visual pollution being more confusing for people, I’m actually currently visiting Japan for signage for a class so I’m focusing a lot on this right now, it’s surprising how even though every surface has signage it really does help users.
Almost every surface has useful information, like massive signs above hallways pointing what they are, and on the floor if you’re not looking up (like big arrows for connections between networks, I’m looking at you Bonaventure connection…), All the pillars say the stations, and track numbers, the route names, all necessary for a complex system. I don’t think Montréal needs most of these things as it’s not nearly as busy and complicated, but certain elements from it would greatly improve how people use the system:
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Boarding tunes: This is pretty well known, but a lot of stations in Tokyo have boarding songs that play for visually impaired people to know that the doors are open and ready to board. If there’s two trains, they sometimes make the songs harmonize together to sound nice. I don’t think this is necessary for Montréal, and it would make more audio pollution especially in the larger more cavernous stations. I think instead there should be a door opening sound (which they also have) similar to the REM added to the métro.
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Station name and next station announcements: Something I was surprised by was how when the doors of a train opened, they had a speaker announce the name of the station multiple times, to make it clear what station this is. They also announce what the next station is either before the train arrives, or during, as the trains themselves only make announcements between stations (like in Montréal). I think for Montréal, just saying the next stop using speakers on specific sides of the station would be good as it would be clear which direction the train is heading, although not entirely necessary except maybe at Lionel-Groulx and Snowdon as they’re more complicated. I do hope the REM receives something like this when the other branches open though, because I’m not sure how someone would know which train is what without visual info on the screens.
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Stairway birds: In some stations in Tokyo, they use bird sounds that repeat somewhat quietly above the staircases, for people with visual impairments to easily identify the closest way out. Because birds repeat sounds over and over, it honestly wasn’t even noticeable, I thought it was a real bird. I’m in the middle on if this is needed, it’s nice to identify the stairs but I think tactile paving is better at doing this.
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Tactile Maps: In most stations in Japan, they have a stand that has a physical map users can feel to understand the walls, and even buttons below that can help describe what is what. I think Montréal should receive something like this in stations, NYC is already doing a pilot project for their own version.
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Tactile Paving: We’re used to this on the REM, but there are noticeable differences. Firstly, all of it is yellow as they’re easier to see with the darker ground. For the REM, the black works because the ground is light, but outdoors it should be maybe a yellow, something easier to identify than almost the same colour as the ground. Going to where the tactile paving is, they should’ve run the tactile paving closer against the doors to the train cars. Currently they lead you to the middle of the platform, not to the door. Additionally, where it is currently is where people would stand to wait for the train, which is not where it should be, as people could be standing on top getting in the way. Running it closer to the doors prevents this as well. Also, this was brought up in a recent article, but the tactile paving needs to guide to the handrails, not middle of the staircase. When there is construction, it shouldn’t just run into a wall, temporary tactile paving should be added on top. We need to be inspired by Japan. Did you know, that tactile pedestrian crossing bumps began in Japan, and is what inspired the whole world the follow? The same should be true for the tactile pathways.
There so much more, but I’m not going to say all of it here but this is most of it. From what I can see, the transit system in Tokyo is the most accessible system in the world, and Montréal has many steps needed to improve. We need explicit legislation in Canada, or at least Quebec to make public infrastructure more accessible to everyone, from a separate budget (not eating into transit).