New Handrails on Metro Cars?
October 25th, 2006
I’ve always wondered why, if Metro doesn’t want people crowding at the doors to the rail cars, they encourage the behavior with hand-holds near each door. Well, it seems they’ve realized how design affects behavior — yesterday, I was on what I presume was a test car (it looked there were camera domes in the ceiling toward the center of the car) that had completely reconfigured handrails. Instead of the uprights near each door, there were smaller handles bolted to the side of the car. And instead of the single center ceiling rail, there were shorter, angled bars near the exits, so that even if people insisted on using them, presumably there would be enough of a natural clearance for people to get in and out. We’ll see what happens…