Wayfinding and signage for mobility hubs: a case study at Utrecht Central Station.

Abstract

Mobility hubs are places where multiple transportation modes are available and where these different kinds of transportation can be shared. These kinds of commercial, public areas need good wayfinding strategies to make every traveler's journey as successful and safe as possible. The goal of this thesis is to identify what the information wants and needs are for different travelers. In the first study, 92 travelers were interviewed at Utrecht Central Station to find out what kind of traveler wants what kind of information, what they think of the current signage at the station, and how they would improve this. Results indicated that most travelers had trouble locating themselves, thought signage was not well placed, and had trouble finding different modes of transport, especially bus stations. In a second study, I looked at the questions that were asked at the information booths at the station. The questions correlated with the problems found in the interviews and gave some additional insights. Taken together, this research recommends taking the more vulnerable target groups into consideration, like older adults and people who rarely visit the hub, when designing a future mobility hub