SEPTA Planning

Wayfinding Public Survey Results

SEPTA released a public survey in the fall of 2020 to gather key information about how the public uses and understands the existing system. The survey, also available in Spanish and Chinese, was distributed to SEPTA stakeholders, community groups, advocacy groups, and government partners. Receiving over 1,500 responses, the survey provided us with invaluable knowledge about how riders navigate Philadelphia using the SEPTA system. View the full report here.

Familiarity & Usage

How familiar are you with the SEPTA transit system?

  • Respondents were most familiar with the Market-Frankford Line (MFL) and least familiar with the Media-Sharon Hill Lines and the Norristown High Speed Line.
  • Over 50% of the respondents were regular riders of the system.
How familiar are you with the SEPTA transit system?

Which train, trolley or bus route do you use most often?

  • The Market-Frankford Line was the most used by survey respondents, followed by Regional Rail, the Broad Street Line (BSL), and bus/trackless trolley.
  • 25% used the MFL most often, with BSL closely behind.
The Market-Frankford Line was the most used by survey respondents, followed by Regional Rail, the Broad Street Line, and bus/trackless trolley.

How important are each of the following tools in your journey through the SEPTA system?

  • While all the tools presented by the survey were recognized as important references, respondents most consistently rated station and stop signage at entrances as extremely important. Hand-schedules and trip planners were rated with the least level of importance. Real time updates are crucial – respondents will switch tools for this.
While all the tools presented by the survey were recognized as important references, respondents most consistently rated station and stop signage at entrances as extremely important. Hand-schedules and trip planners were rated with the least level of importance. Real time updates are crucial - respondents will switch tools for this.

How familiar are you with the SEPTA transit system?

  • The three most commonly used apps for navigation are the SEPTA App, Transit App, and Google Maps.
The three most commonly used apps for navigation are the SEPTA App, Transit App, and Google Maps.

Experience

Respondents cited telling the difference between service patterns like local, express, limited, and spur etc. as a challenge.

What do you find the most challenging part of traveling on the follow lines?

  • 31.97% of the participants who responded identified signage and wayfinding as one of the most challenging parts of traveling on SEPTA.
  • Spanish-language participants identified major transfer stations like City Hall as particularly challenging to navigate, as well identifying the local versus the express trains.
signage-wayfinding-thumb

If you ever have ever gotten lost while on the system, please describe where you were lost on the following lines.

  • Over 40% of participants listed the City Hall/15th Street complex as the point in the system they got lost most frequently.
  • Exits and entrances can be major challenges, stops are unclear, and there is an overall lack of signage.
Over 40% of participants listed the City Hall/15th Street complex as the point in the system they got lost most frequently.

Line Nomenclature

Respondents used many different names to refer to our rail transit lines – from Orange Line to Blue Line, to The El, The Sub, and the Route 100. The Market-Frankford Line is the only line that is most commonly referred to by a nickname – “The El” – at 75%.

  • For Spanish-language responses, 62.5% identified the Broad-Street Line as The Orange Line vs 12.95% across all respondents.
  • For Spanish-language responses, 68.75% identified the Market-Frankford Line as The Blue Line vs 14.05% across all respondents.
  • For Spanish-language responses, 68.75% identified the Market-Frankford Line as the Blue Line (Linea Azul) and the Broad Street Line as the Orange Line (Linea Naranja) vs. 14.05% across all respondents.

If you are familiar with the Broad Street Line, what do you most often call it?

If you are familiar with the Broad Street Line, what do you most often call it?

If you are familiar with the Market-Fankford Street Line, what do you most often call it?

If you are familiar with the Market-Fankford Street Line, what do you most often call it?

If you are familiar with the Norristown High Speed Line, what do you most often call it?

If you are familiar with the Norristown High Speed Line, what do you most often call it?

Pictogram Recognition

Respondents were asked to identify the lines based on a series of black and white and color pictograms.

  • Given that the survey respondents were quite familiar with the system, these numbers imply that they may not be gaining much information or familiarity from the current pictograms.
  • Color is an important element of wayfinding. Respondents had trouble identifying route/line icons without their corresponding color. Given the respondents’ relative familiarity with the system, 59% of responses correctly identifying black and white icons is poor.
  • Adding color helped increase the amount of respondents able to correctly identify the line to 85%.
Given that the survey respondents were quite familiar with the system, these numbers imply that they may not be gaining much information or familiarity from the current pictograms.