The hidden cost of confusing transit navigation
Bart is a critical transit system for
over 162,000 daily riders
Helping commuters get to
work, school, and home
Report in
Jan 2025
Ridership increased by
7.15%
Total trips
4.15 million
However, 45% of many riders still struggle with navigation.
Missed stops, wrong trains, and unclear exits waste time.
Confusion creates anxiety, especially for new or occasional riders.
Unintuitive wayfinding discourages people from choosing public transit.
This isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a trust issue.
Reduced ridership growth
Higher car dependency
Increased traffic congestion
Why is navigation so difficult?
Through my firsthand journey from Fruitvale to Embarcadero station , I documented the key friction points that make BART hard to navigate:
Red marks distract; blue ones indicate signs.
Many ads are distracting, and the signage is tiny.
Reduced ridership growth
Higher car dependency
Increased traffic congestion
Lack of onboard navigation support
Text is too small and overloaded with information.
The complicated lines and small text make the map hard to read
Poor exit signage wastes time
New riders and tourists struggle the most, relying on trial and error to find the right way out.
Over 4.15 million trips per month, yet exit labels are unclear, inconsistent, or missing at key stations.
Unclear exit signs. Take "B2 exit" to the right at the blue mark.
The result
Riders experience stress, delays, and uncertainty, making public transit feel unreliable.
How to make Bart experience more intuitive?
To address these issues, I designed a wayfinding system that enhances
Clarity, Confirmation, & Consistency.
Inspired of the best transportation system
Metro stations from New York, Japan, and London
Asked some Bart riders
Understanding the first-time experience at Bart.
“BART feels a lot riskier because the maps aren't as clear, it's a lot less efficient (it takes me like an hour to get to Fruitvale Station from Walnut Creek!) and the trains come much less frequently, so if you miss a train or get on the wrong one, you're screwed.” - Ch.
Making bold, color-coded signage for quick decision-making
Platform signs clearly indicate which trains stop where.
Large, high-contrast exit numbers help riders locate destinations faster.
Combining letters and numbers can make things easier and faster to access, especially for those with disabilities, cognitive challenges, or tourists.
Adopting a new system with color-coded platforms and numbers as well as platform numbers to make station confirmations a breeze.
Streamline access to platforms 1 and 2.
This GIF is speeding up to show how people can remember information better. It simplifies things for riders to avoid cognitive overload.
It's an easy way for tourists to chat, and seniors don’t have to stress about remembering everything.
Key takeaway
1
The project aims to restore trust in public transit by making BART an effortless and stress-free experience.
2
By making riders feel confident, the project aims to encourage them to choose transit over cars.
3
This will lead to less congestion, lower emissions, and a more sustainable city.