NYC to Add Citywide ‘Wayfinding’ Maps to Encourage Walking, Business

Source: http://transportationnation.org/2013/01/14/look-nyc-to-add-citywide-wayfinding-maps-to-encourage-walking/

By Alex Goldmark | 01/14/2013 – 12:02 am

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(Image courtesy of NYC DOT)

Even with smartphone maps, a waffle iron street grid and numbered streets in most of Manhattan, too many pedestrians are getting lost in New York City according to the NYC Department of Transportation. The solution, or part of it, will begin rolling out in March: maps. Lots of them. Designed just for pedestrians to be placed on sidewalks and eventually on bike share stations all around the five boroughs.
“We have a great system of signage for cars, but we don’t have a good system of signage for people,” said Jeanette Sadik-Khan, NYC’s Transportation Commissioner. (Earlier this week she unveiled newly designed, and less cluttered, parking signs). Starting in March, New York City will install 150 ‘wayfinding’ signs on sidewalks in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens as part of a citywide system that will roll out in phases at a cost of $6 million, most of it borne by local business improvement districts.

A sample of what NYC's new wayfinding maps will look like. Courtesy NYC DOT.

The sidewalk signage will show pedestrians where they are and which way they are facing — a study last year found that many New Yorkers couldn’t point to north when asked. Transit, local attractions, and businesses are placed on a large map of the local street grid with  circles indicating where you can reach with a five minute walk, and how long it will take to get to other attractions. Like countdown clocks in subways, knowing the time and effort involved in a trip can make it more appealing. The signs, the DOT hopes, will encourage more walking.
“We’re very excited about it and think it will be a big boon, not only for visitors … but also for business.” A slowly ambling customer visiting a new neighborhood, or a new route, is much more likely to check out a new shop than a driver is to stop, park, and peek in.
“New York is a perfect place to have a wayfinding system because nearly one third of all trips are made by foot,” Sadik-Khan said. A little encouragement to walk could be a tipping point to leave the car at home, she says, pointing out that a quarter of all car trips in NYC are less than a mile, a distance people could walk.
The signs will roll out in Chinatown, Midtown Manhattan, Long Island City, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights. ”These are heavily foot trafficked areas,” she says. “The lessons that we learn there… will help us as we build a bigger system citywide.”
When bike share stations are installed in May, they will include these maps. That would add several hundred more pedestrian maps in many new neighborhoods.
Here’s a full length sample:

Sample design of NYC's wayfinding maps. Courtesy NYC DOT.