Another check today – and on closer, much closer look, I find the connection between Coal Harbour and Canada Place is better than I thought. But still bad.
Quick, see from the signage if you can figure out which way cyclists should go:
Answer: Up the ramp obscured by the sign on the left that says “Pedestrian Area …” When confronted by this visual overload, ninety percent cyclists, including me, miss this – and head down the path meant for pedestrians and end up here:
.
In fact, there is signage along the way that tells pedestrians to follow the yellow dots and cyclists the blue. Quick, find the dots:
Even if you notice the signs, there are no dots on the ramp. But there are some further on.
So quick, find the blue dots:
And while you’re looking, see if you can find the arrow that tells you where to turn – especially since there’s a folding gate that suggests the route ahead is closed off.
Trick question: there’s no arrow.
Maybe there are more changes coming. But so far: pathetic.
It is pretty bad. Love the dark blue dots on the dark brown wood. This whole thing is a case study on how not to do wayfinding. Wouldn’t surprise me if they painted some on the black ramp too. The almost closed gate is a nice touch. It fooled me the first time too and I when down the steps. Hope they fly planes better than they do wayfinding.
Sign overload. It seems the company has chosen to not fix their planning problems and instead just put up more signs. There are 3 identical signs in the first photo (2 in the second) directing passengers to the check in area. Add the seawall connection into the mix and this approach becomes absurd.
A colleague and I attempted to navigate the supposed Coal Harbour Connection during our lunch break yesterday. To say the sign-age is confusing is an understatement. We found ourselves in the convention centre parking lot before eventually reconnecting with the right path “marked” with blue dots. The harbour air check-in placards placed on the connecting bridge a both an annoyance and obstruction. This really should have been done better with the needs of pedestrians and cyclists being put first rather than as an afterthought. Major fail!
This shows us that there needs to be some guidelines for cycling infrastructure so that places like this, who have other concerns to deal with can just get the pamphlet and follow what it says. I think that they’re well meaning but just cannot relate to what someone arriving on a bike needs.
The city has an email address for bike related concerns.
bikevancouver@vancouver.ca