At Least MTA is Doing SOMETHING Right...

I think we can all agree that New York City's Metro Transit Authority could definitely use some reform, but whoever they hired to do their station and subway car design did (for the most part) a fine job. I was born 20 minutes outside of New York, and spent most of my life in northern New Jersey, so it's inevitable that I've spent a lot of time in the nation's largest city, and using it's infrastructure. Many may find the NYC subway system a little bit intimidating because of how large and complex it is, but because of it's smart design, I find that it is actually quite easy to find your way around. You'll begin your journey by spotting a Subway station, marked by a green and white (or sometimes solid green) ball-shaped light. Then, all you have to do is check if the entrance you're about to go in is for service uptown, downtown, or can be used for either. Assuming you don't already have a Metrocard, you'll then have to use the extremely easy to use Metrocard vending machine. After purchasing a Metrocard, you'll have to deal with one of the lower points of the subway system, the turnstyles, but thats a whole other topic for discussion, and most people end up surviving and getting through to make their train. Once you've crossed over to the other side, you'll be bombarded with signs directing you where to go, marked by your trains own personal logo, number or letter inside of a colored circle. These marks are another very smart innovation, the train number/letter marks specific route, and the color of the circle represents what "family" that set of trains is (i.e. - the 4, 5, and 6 trains are all marked by a blue circle, and follow a similar route, but their routes are all slightly different). When you get on the train, the newer models have a large sign in each car that has the route posted, with lights that turn off after each stop (example below), and under each stop, it has which trains can be transfered to

Some of the newer subway cars have signs similar to this one, that are even more advanced, that use an LED display to show you what stops are coming up, and how many stops there are until you arrive at any particular one. Then, at each stop, there is a specific sound, and an automated voice announces the stop, and the trains that are available for transfer. Finally, once you exit the train, and arrive at a stop, there are signs to direct you to either the train you are transferring to, or the exit to the street.