Let's increase some more station names!

[Scrabbleship]

ANC 6D in Southwest/Near Southeast wants to change the names of Navy Yard and Waterfront

The proposed new names: "Capitol Riverfront-Navy Yard/Ballpark" for Navy Yard and "Waterfront-SEU/Arena Stage" for Waterfront. Somehow they didn't get the memo that Southeastern University folded over a year ago and should be removed from the name if anything.

IMO, adding "Capital Waterfront" to Navy Yard would be like adding "NoMa" to New York Ave or changing the Farraguts to "Golden Triangle". Marketing names for areas don't belong on stations, even if it's a bit more honest than the name at hand since the Navy Yard is a ways even from the New Jersey Ave exit.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Adding Ballpark to Navy Yard or somehow making it clear that Stadium-Armory refers to RFK may not be the worst of ideas.  Adding Arena Stage to Waterfront isn't the worst of ideas either, but other theaters seem to get by without their names attached to stations.

SEU should be dropped if Waterfront's name is changed. 

Do we really need both a Waterfront and Capitol Riverfront?

[SchuminWeb]

"Navy Yard/Ballpark" seems sound enough of an idea, since it sees a lot of use for baseball games.  Adding "Capital Riverfront" to it seems a bit... much.

"Waterfront-SEU/Arena Stage" seems a bit like overkill.  If they are to change the name there, they should just change it back to "Waterfront".

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Most operators seem to call it Navy Yard/Nationals Ballpark, at least before games.  I don't ride down that way at any other time really, so I don't know if everyone is doing it all the time. 

Maybe it is also time to rename Gallery Place to what nearly every Red Line operator calls it: Gallery Place-Chinatown/Verizon Center.  Does anyone know if Morgan Boulevard gets mention of FedEx Field?

[Scrabbleship]

Most operators seem to call it Navy Yard/Nationals Ballpark, at least before games.  I don't ride down that way at any other time really, so I don't know if everyone is doing it all the time. 

Maybe it is also time to rename Gallery Place to what nearly every Red Line operator calls it: Gallery Place-Chinatown/Verizon Center.  Does anyone know if Morgan Boulevard gets mention of FedEx Field?

I think Morgan Boulevard gets mention of FedEx Field when games are happening, otherwise no.

There are some problems about putting a building where naming rights have been purchased into a transit station's name.
1: What if a naming rights holder is bought out by someone? Or can't keep up the deal? Or other things happen? Who pays to change all the signs, maps, etc. etc. Imagine if Muni's 4th & King/Caltrain was named Pacific Bell Park instead, it'd have had to have changed its name twice in less than 5 years time due to buyouts!
2: What if the naming rights holder wants an agency to pay for the privilege of their name being on the station? Citi did this to the MTA in New York with Willets Point after CitiField replaced Shea Stadium, MTA walked away.

I think a good thing WMATA should do is look at selling naming rights to some stations, often for companies relevant to the stop. Verizon could buy rights to Gallery Place (and knock Chinablock out at the same time), FedEx to Morgan Blvd, Discovery Communications to Silver Spring, GEICO to Friendship Heights, Target to Columbia Heights, etc. If done more like the failed "State-Citizens Bank" experiment in Boston and less the AT&T replacing Pattison deal in Philly, it could work well.

[SchuminWeb]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

My recollection is that when the deal on the SF ballpark was made (and subsequently updated for the buyouts), the new sponsor or the team had to chip in for changing signs around the area of the ballpark.  Perhaps a similar deal could get made here.

Renaming Stadium-Armory to be RFK Stadium-Armory or Navy Yard to Navy Yard/Ballpark or Navy Yard/Nationals Park isn't a huge deal IMO.  The bigger issues are for things like FedEx Field and Verizon Center which have corporate names, yet are noteworthy destinations that should probably be indicated on the map. 

[btconet]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

But think of all the tie-ins that could lead to reduced fares!

"Kaiser Permanente" Medical Center

"Dupont Paint" Circle

Gallery Place "P.F. Changs" Chinatown

"Western" Union Station

Silver "Poland" Spring "Water"

East Falls Church"'s Fried Chicken"

Court "Waffle" House

Eastern "Boston" Market

Landover "Downs Racetrack and Slots"

"Chase - J.P." Morgan Boulevard

Columbia "Sports Products" Heights

"Swarovski" Crystal City

"Burger" King Street

OK, I'll stop now.  Besides, someone has probably already used some of these dumb jokes.

[Tritransit Area]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

Meh, so far so good up here: http://www.septa.org/maps/transit/bsl.html  (check out what used to be "Pattison" at the bottom of the screen).   It's nice of WMATA to incorporate as much info as possible into station names, but they go a bit too far and most people don't say the entire station name when referring to a station that refers to 4 different landmarks.

[SchuminWeb]

btconet:

Some of your suggestions remind me of what my father thought he saw when he rode through Prince George's Plaza.  He thought it said, "Prince George's Pizza", which led me to make this:


(http://www.schuminweb.com/schumin-web/journal/permalink.php?id=960)

Mom and I were amused, to say the least.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

Meh, so far so good up here: http://www.septa.org/maps/transit/bsl.html  (check out what used to be "Pattison" at the bottom of the screen).   It's nice of WMATA to incorporate as much info as possible into station names, but they go a bit too far and most people don't say the entire station name when referring to a station that refers to 4 different landmarks.

It is ironic, but when Jackson Graham was GM, I think he insisted all the station names be a maximum number of letters total, depending on if it was a one word or two word name.

AT&T is a pathetic name for a station, it doesn't say anything about where it actually is.  Do the destination signs on the trains still say PATTISON or are those changed too? 

[Tritransit Area]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

Meh, so far so good up here: http://www.septa.org/maps/transit/bsl.html  (check out what used to be "Pattison" at the bottom of the screen).   It's nice of WMATA to incorporate as much info as possible into station names, but they go a bit too far and most people don't say the entire station name when referring to a station that refers to 4 different landmarks.

It is ironic, but when Jackson Graham was GM, I think he insisted all the station names be a maximum number of letters total, depending on if it was a one word or two word name.

AT&T is a pathetic name for a station, it doesn't say anything about where it actually is.  Do the destination signs on the trains still say PATTISON or are those changed too? 

I agree the AT&T is a bad name for the station.  The train signs are being changed over to "AT&T" as well.  At least it's the last stop on the line, and on most maps it also has "Sports and Entertainment Complex" by the AT&T logo.

[Scrabbleship]

Oooooh, I would hate to see a corporation get its hands on naming rights for WMATA stations.  No good could come of that, and I have a feeling that WMATA would get screwed in the end on it.  I'd rather see WMATA exploit advertising potential to a greater degree than offer up naming rights to a station.

Meh, so far so good up here: http://www.septa.org/maps/transit/bsl.html  (check out what used to be "Pattison" at the bottom of the screen).   It's nice of WMATA to incorporate as much info as possible into station names, but they go a bit too far and most people don't say the entire station name when referring to a station that refers to 4 different landmarks.

It is ironic, but when Jackson Graham was GM, I think he insisted all the station names be a maximum number of letters total, depending on if it was a one word or two word name.

AT&T is a pathetic name for a station, it doesn't say anything about where it actually is.  Do the destination signs on the trains still say PATTISON or are those changed too? 

I agree the AT&T is a bad name for the station.  The train signs are being changed over to "AT&T" as well.  At least it's the last stop on the line, and on most maps it also has "Sports and Entertainment Complex" by the AT&T logo.

How are they changing the signs when the signs themselves use near-obsolete technology. I love the quirky old-school signs on the BSS cars, but I wonder why SEPTA didn't change them to LED's or even LCD's when they had their midlife rehab?

If it was "Pattison/AT&T", it'd be a much bigger compromise and it'd be easier to fix if the deal ever goes south.

[btconet]

How are they changing the signs when the signs themselves use near-obsolete technology. I love the quirky old-school signs on the BSS cars, but I wonder why SEPTA didn't change them to LED's or even LCD's when they had their midlife rehab?

If it was "Pattison/AT&T", it'd be a much bigger compromise and it'd be easier to fix if the deal ever goes south.

Isn't it just simply a couple of lamps behind a silkscreened piece of glass?

I've never been any big fan of expensive electronic signs for rolling stock that only visits literally a handful of destinations, but...

given SEPTA's retrofits of Norristown and Girard cars, I wouldn't be shocked to see them actually waste the money for LEDs.

[79MetroExtraMD]

Has SEPTA ever refurbished the BSS cars? I know they are reaching almost 30 years and could due for a good facelift.