First look at the Bay Area’s new transit maps and signage

With so many Bay Area transit agencies, finding where you’re going at a transit station in time to make your bus, train or ferry can be confusing, especially at complex locations with multiple transit agencies and transit options. After much discussion and planning, the region’s first unified transit signage and maps are now up and running at El Cerrito del Norte Station.

The new designs aim to help riders navigate transit stations, embark on multi-agency trips, and improve the public perception of Bay Area transit as a single, unified system. Standardized, regionwide signage may also save transit agencies money by taking advantage of economies of scale and easier maintenance and implementation.

December 12th press conference at the El Cerrito del Norte Station unveiling the new maps and signage. Right after, the staff gave a walking tour.

The new signage, created by Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project, a collaboration between MTC and transit agencies, was unveiled at a December 12th press conference held by MTC and transit agencies.

El Cerrito del Norte was chosen as a pilot project location for several factors:

The station is fairly complex, with 7 different transit operators, 20 bus routes, and 2 BART lines;
offers transfers between bus and rail modes; and
is located within an Equity Priority Community.

Future pilot projects (more on that later) will also be tested at multi-modal transit hubs across the region.

Standardized and clear transit signage are vital for improving ease-of-use with dependable, familiar information at all key transit hubs. New signs will be extremely helpful for first-time, infrequent, and out of town transit users not familiar with the Bay Area’s complex network of operators.

Take a look at the new maps and signage

The new El Cerrito del Norte facility map depicts a detailed layout of the transit station, including how to get to BART platforms and various bus routes, nearby bike parking and pathways, accessible ramps and elevators, ticket machines, restrooms, station agents, and more.

Importantly, the map has big yellow markers indicating bus stop locations. Each bus stop has a numerical and alphabetic ID to help riders orient themselves at the station.

Facility map for the El Cerrito del Norte Station.

If you are catching a bus from the BART station area, signs help direct you to the right location.

Each bus stop lists the available routes and their final destinations. All the new signs use colors to indicate bus route frequency – dark red indicating 1-10 minute frequencies, light red indicating 11-15 minutes, light blue indicating 16-30 minutes, and dark blue indicating 31 minutes or more. These colors are used on other station signage too, including the facility map and location transit connections map.

Bus stops have the same big yellow markers as the other maps and key information on routes, frequency, and QR codes to scan for real-time information about bus departure times.

Bus stops also include a QR code that riders can scan for real-time information about bus departure times. Further print information is provided about bus route schedules, hours of operation, days of operation, and fare prices.

Each stop has a QR code for real-time bus departure information.

Stops also have more route information about such as schedule and fares.

Local transit connection maps help riders visualize transit services in the surrounding area, with the same color scheme to indicate service frequency on each transit route. These maps highlight destinations like schools, retail areas, museums, community centers, hospitals, and more. The focus on destinations is especially helpful given changes in travel patterns, where non-commuting trips represent a higher share of transit travel.

Location Transit Connection map for the El Cerrito del Norte Station.

A particularly anticipated part of the project is the new Regional Transit Connections map. This map shows regional rail, bus, and ferry routes and how they connect to other regional services. Line thickness is used to indicate how often the service comes, with thicker lines showing more frequent transit. The map also showcases icons of important sites like airports, universities, vineyards, entertainment venues, regional and state parks, and, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge.

New BART Line Diagrams

The El Cerrito del Norte Station also debuts new BART Line Diagrams. These maps will be present near BART platforms to show riders which lines are available at the station, which direction trains are heading, the stations along the route, and connecting rail and ferry services. One nice feature of the line diagram map is the inclusion of city boundaries for the region’s three biggest cities – San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. This is especially helpful for visitors or less frequent transit riders as some stations (in San Francisco, for instance) do not indicate which city they serve.

Future Installations

8 more prototypes are expected to roll out across the region throughout 2025 and 2026, with the next one anticipated for the Santa Rosa Transit Mall hubs in January.

Future installations will include directional maps to help riders walk, bike, and roll to other regional transit connections when applicable, such as at Downtown Santa Rosa.

Conclusion

We applaud the MTC and transit agency staff for their work on this important project and their continued progress. Clear signage and maps will improve the transit rider experience, but there is also a need to make the underlying transit service well-coordinated and frequent so the holistic rider experience is seamless. This project is a small part of the region’s 2021 Transit Transformation Action Plan, a set of 27 near-term actions to make public transit more rider-focused, affordable, and accessible. Some other initiatives we are following from this plan include fare coordination policies, transit priority policies, accessibility reforms, and increasing funding via a transit funding ballot measure and state/federal advocacy.

If you’d like to give feedback on the new prototype maps and signage, fill out this survey being conducted by MTC and the transit agencies (available in English, Spanish, Chinese). There is a survey for people who’ve visited these new maps in-person and those who have not.

Stay tuned to our newsletter and our blog to see when more prototype projects come online in other parts of the region.

Kaleo MarkDecember 20, 2024