Design in the Montreal metro

I bet New Yorkers can't believe their eyes (or ears) when they first encounter the Montreal Metro...


AESTHETICS
Every station is designed by a different architect, and each one is home to giant works of art, from walls of stained glass to exquisite modern tile patterns. (View a quick photo line-up of the many different interiors.) But that's just the beginning. The next thing you notice is the general cleanliness and lack of graffiti. There are no signs of neglect (no broken railings, no torn seating, no leaking roofs, or vermin). The temperature in the stations and on the trains is air-conditioned in summer, heated in winter. The cars look new, but in fact are 40 years old; they were refurbished in 1999. Not only are there clean trash cans, there are recycle bins at every turn. A single one-way ticket is $2.50, but the public certainly gets its money's worth, and there are substantial discounts for commuter passes.

SAFETY
The absence of aggression is palpable. I've traveled several times via metro at 1am on a Saturday by myself and never felt concerned for my safety, either in the station or on the platform. I haven't figured that part out yet. Maybe it's the clear sight lines and good lighting. Maybe it's just a general satisfaction with the high quality of life in Quebec.

EFFICIENCY
On the platforms, giant electronic LCD screens display useful information: time, weather, news updates and... the estimated time of arrival of the next train. Transportation and city maps are where you need them and... they're current! Trains generally run on time (every 3 - 5 minutes at peak times, every 12 minutes off peak). Each train is monitored electronically to optimize performance.

THOUGHTFUL DESIGN


Overhead walkways allow you to see arriving and departing trains, when you're still close enough to sprint to catch one or slow down if you see you've just missed a train. Platforms are intelligently designed. Lighting is focused where you need it at the edge of the platform, and dimmed in the seating area so you can relax more easily while waiting.

Seating is set in to the walls. When no-one is seated, the platform is completely clear of obstruction. If the seats are occupied, only ones knees protrude, so others can see you (for safety's sake) yet you're not blocking the flow of traffic. Brilliant.

Even the typography makes sense: letters are wide-kerned (spaced out) so that the station name can more easily be read from the window of a moving car.

And of course, the crowning glory is the French-inspired color-coded metro system, with each line logically named after its 2 end stations (none of this vague "A train" or "# 2 line", which is utterly useless for visitors). If the sign above the platform station is orange and says "Cote-Vertu", then you are on the orange line, headed in the direction of Cote-Vertu. So simple to use. So well-conceived.