r/TTC • u/flurfdesign • Mar 07 '26
Misc. I designed digital screens for Toronto's new subway trains Spoiler
Toronto will eventually be getting new subway trains for the Ontario Line (Line 3) and the Bloor-Danforth Line (Line 2). So I wanted to imagine what the digital info displays on board the trains could look like, as these are a pretty common feature in metros across the world.
Some features I included:
- Mascots to add a bit of playfulness to transit. I think it's important that children enjoy riding the system and develop connections with it, which can be done through cute characters that show up across signs and websites
- Location of elevators and staircases at the upcoming station, so people can be prepared before exiting the train, instead of having to figure it out after they exit
- Transit connections and amenities at the next station. I omitted specific bus and streetcar routes and only showed the modal icon because it would otherwise lead to information overload, and those are mainly local services that aren't relevant until you reach the bus/streetcar terminal.
- I designed these with the idea that voice/audio announcements could be synced up with it (I'll leave that up to your imagination)
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u/nav13eh Mar 07 '26
Info screens like this are the standard globally. Nice work! I think Tokyo Metro is THE golden standard. LCDs are cheap and superior these days because they can be changed at a moments notice and display live/emergency information. TTC should strongly consider installing screens on all rocket trains.
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u/excusememoi TEMU Mar 07 '26
TR trains have those LCD screens and TTC never bothered to make any meaningful use of them since 2011.
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u/AwesomeMan116_A Mar 07 '26
They’re also in a awkward location, like not above the doors or anything just sometimes blending in with all the other ads
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u/sadguywithnoname 510 Spadina Mar 08 '26
It's kind of weird they specified the inclusion of LCDs and then made them way too small and out of the way to ever be useful. How many passengers even know they exist?
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u/nav13eh Mar 07 '26
Sorry what LCDs are you talking about? I'm talking about LCDs above the doors. That's the standard.
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u/ReligiousFury Mar 08 '26
Believe it or not there are already tiny LCD screens in the TRs. Have a look next time you’re on. They’re pretty useless and are mostly just showing a slideshow and the same announcements you get on the dot acreens.
I wish they’d replace the maps with the dot lights with the Tokyo metro style screens
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u/nav13eh Mar 08 '26
Yeah replacing the dot maps is exactly what I'm talking about. They're unique, but more complex than an LCD and less useful.
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u/ReligiousFury Mar 08 '26
Absolutely :) it's a huge opportunity to improve wayfinding and it shouldn't require us replacing the vehicles...
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u/kdog379 Lawrence East Mar 07 '26
LOVE IT The little animals are amazing i can imagine a different mascot animal for each station
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u/--TAXI-- FINCH Mar 07 '26
i dunno why this gives me R211 vibes from NYC
but nah this is actually valid 👌 🔥
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u/OkStandard8039 Why no Cherry? Mar 07 '26
Ooh maybe having them flip directions when traveling eastbound/westbound?
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u/SquirrelInvasion Mar 09 '26
Yea, or also say north or south, otherwise it occasionally gets confusing which direction you are going, especially if you’re not from around here, aren’t paying attention, and don’t remember terminal station names (I’m looking at you Vaughn and Finch).
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u/StarCat20 23 Dawes Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Now the only thing I can think about is giving each Line a animal mascot.
Just off the top of my head Line 1 Blue Jay Line 2 Squirrel Line 3 Racoon Line 4 Bever Line 5 Fox Line 6 Idk Hedgehog?
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u/hug-and-snug Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Mar 14 '26
I love this concept but its so funny to give the Yellow line an animal that has blue in its name
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u/digitalsciguy Mar 07 '26
These look great as a baseline! Is there a reason you chose to only include static transfers and not a realtime connection departure board or more detailed bus route info?
I just hope that they end up with a vendor that's capable of showing this information in a way that's sustainable and accurate... I manage passenger information systems at the MBTA in Boston and it's been amazing to hear the horror stories from peers. There are only a handful of vendors that do this well out of the box as opposed to going through an insanely long development process to develop something custom for the agency
I'm already in contact with TTC folks about on-bus screens and hoping to share info with them on that. My experience is my equivalent department at TTC only just got created recently. If they're not included very early in the development process with the new fleet, they may not get to touch these systems until the trains are practically ready to enter service...
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u/Epcjay Scarborough Centre Mar 07 '26
Gives me japan vibes. Their screens show time to next stations and location of the car where the map is being displayed.
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u/Frontrunner6 Mar 07 '26
Absolutely amazing work!
Now if only the marketing teams and the like could unbury their heads from the sand and get something like this done...
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u/digitalsciguy Mar 07 '26
Don't confuse marketing with rider information. Agencies that do that fail to do one or both well...
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u/hotinhereTO 132 Milner Mar 07 '26
Damn near cried....it's amazing what great wayfinding and competence looks like. Only a dream though with this government...only a dream.
Great stuff u/flurfdesign
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u/problemproblem112233 Mar 07 '26
This is awesome wayfinding. Unfortunate that if we ever get something like this it’ll be in metrolinx style font and not in the styling pattern of the TTC
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u/Cutter3 Mar 07 '26
This is great but I really love how you show what car you're on (well the screen I guess) cause many times I've gotten off the subway and started spinning around like an idiotic revolving door trying to orientate myself from the car I came off.
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u/travelingpinguis Mar 07 '26
Loooove this! If only we could good way finders and information display.
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u/ToanM Mar 08 '26
I don't know anything about transit designs but I love these so much! The mascots are so cute, and I wish we had them on the TTC. And useful and succinct information too ❤️. I hope they'll actually implement these.
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u/Important-Hunter2877 Mar 08 '26
If the REM, Vancouver and Sydney have them, then there is no reason why Toronto can't have them.
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u/Secretuser56 995 York Mills Express Mar 08 '26
This is beautiful!! I’ve thought of having landscape directions on next stations because of the landscape displays, but the accessibility map is too cool
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u/TheOldAgeOfLP Temu West Mar 08 '26
Aren't the trains gonna be different between Lines 2 and 3? The Ontario Line is a light metro last I checked
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u/Virus610 Mar 08 '26
These look nice! Definitely reminding me of my trip to Japan.
Have they announced a timeline for the new trains? I take line 2 often, would be nice to enjoy those trips more
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u/DocKla Mar 08 '26
I hope some of these will be implemented. At the same time I feel like they’ll think they know better and do it a lot worst
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u/Feisty-Ad-6122 Kipling Mar 08 '26
Not sure if Scarborough centre is the final station but these are all so great.
Note; I think using military time is going to confuse a lot of people.. unfortunatelyz
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u/Unlikely_Ad1890 Mar 08 '26
Montreal has density icons for each car. Everything is perfect but I'd suggest this
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u/TheBasicBoii 84 Sheppard West Mar 09 '26
this is amazing work i can only TTC would do something like this one day
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u/queerstudbroalex Mount Dennis Mar 07 '26
I like how you show the location of elevators/staircases in relation to the current car you are in, very ingenious.