Should go card readers on railway stations be painted a bright colour? Poll ...

[ozbob]

A few members have suggested painting the go card readers on stations to highlight them as a prompt to touch off.

What colour would you prefer?  Any point in painting them?

Comments?

[p858snake]

Yellow or blue would be the best since they are the best detectable when it comes to colour blindness.

Unfortunately QR's colour scheme is a plain single maroon colour so that wouldn't work.

[SockGap]

I was going to say QR yellow with maroon highlights but then I remembered it's a Translink service so I guess they would have to be green and orange like the Translink funded buses.

I'm normally a bus person but I do catch the occasional train.  From my "regular" station (Bald Hills) I know where the readers are and I know where to tag on and off.   But I was at Auchenflower a while back and had no idea where the reader was - at Bald Hills they are at the bottom of the stairs so I expected Auchenflower to be at the bottom of the ramp.   It wasn't - it was at the top near the exit.  I found them quickly enough but I think if they were painted a different colour to help them stand out it would be a good idea.

[Mozz]

A bright colour would certainly help as an aide memoire to touch off. On my usual stations I am ok but if I go to one which isn't my usual I find myself having to constantly remind myself to touch off before I start thinking about my unusual direction of travel.

A few bright signs also reminding people to tag off would be helpful. These ideas in the context of the provision of public transport are reasonable simple to implement and would go a long way to helping people get used to the system. It would also assist casual users of public transport particularly tourists.

I might remind people that it wasn't that long ago Translink was proposing a $15 penalties and as sure as death and taxes, the current $5 will increase

[O_128]

groovy grape   realistically bright orange or green

[ozbob]

e.g.

-> -> -> ->

[STB]

I would say Safety Yellow from a DDA perspective.

[#Metro]

Whoa! What is this? iGoCard 2.0?

I would go TL for orange. Alternatively, it could be a different colour for each line you know:
* Purple for Cleveland
* Red for Beenleigh
* Green for Ipswich
* Black for the Airport

etc etc

The top face could be TL orange.

[ozbob]

Hoods could be the line colours, and the reader itself TransLink Orange?

e.g.



(graphic artist I am not, but you get the idea ...)

[Derwan]

I would say Safety Yellow from a DDA perspective.

Yellow is my favourite colour (or favorite color if you're American).  But in this situation I think it should be TransLink Orange.

Why?  Because we already have a number of things painted yellow - from a safety/visibility perspective.  The Go Card readers aren't actually obstacles that need to be a bright colour for safety reasons.  The suggestion is to make them stand out so that we remember to touch on/off.  If they're painted yellow, they'll just blend in with the other yellow obstacles and we are less likely to notice them!

If everything is yellow, pretty soon it will end up looking like this.

[ozbob]

LOL, nice yellow house!

Yes, I agree TransLink Orange makes sense, I would also like to see a couple of reflective strips around them as well which would highlight a bit at night.

The colour would help punters to locate them and act as a bit of mind prompt to touch.  Our mini poll favours orange.
Might brighten up the stations a bit too.

Bring it on!

[O_128]

Even signs like these at the station exits would help

[Derwan]

Exactly O_128!  Notice the colour-coding of the fence sign, the bit of paint just under "off" on the painted sign (not sure if that's writing or not) and the post/touch-off device.

For those who aren't colour-blind, colour-coding is a great memory-jogger (and another reason not to go with yellow).

Signs + colour.  Simple but effective - something that the TTA struggles with.

[#Metro]

Why?  Because we already have a number of things painted yellow - from a safety/visibility perspective.  The Go Card readers aren't actually obstacles that need to be a bright colour for safety reasons.

Yes, safety reasons- financial safety reasons.  Yellow GoCard readers = danger! keep away! you'll be fleeced with error penalties!

[stephenk]

Any bright noticeable colour would be better than the current "stealth grey", but yellow is probably the most eye-catching with being garish. Myki got this right on first attempt as their readers are much more noticeable (I found this quite noticeable on my November visit to Melbourne).

I also like the idea of the signs in the photo O_128 posted, which remind users to touch on and off. Again, why does TransPerth get this right, and Translink just don't seem to care/bother?