Transit Mapping Symposium #2
Below the signs: culture and strategy
Yo Kaminagai – Head of design | 28.2.2019
Projects Management Department

1.
A quick glance
at the RATP

The transport
networks in Paris
A very dense multimodal network
inside Paris
MR Paris BT Paris
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The Ile-de-France
network
RMTB
The regional rail network which will
be completed by the new Grand Paris
Express automatic metro in 2030
The Ile-de-France Region RATP – SNCF rail system The Grand Paris metro around Paris built by the SGP
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The RATP company The RATP serves 10,5 Million daily
trips, with 44000 employees
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5
M
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The players in the
Ile-de-France region
The main company
of the RATP Group
dedicated to
the Ile-de-France
Region
The National rail
company operating
the regional rail lines
in the Ile-de-France
Region
80 private bus
operators for the Ile-
de-France Region,
gathered in an
association
A system managed by contracts
A new player: the Société du Grand
Paris (SGP) for the new Grand Paris
Express
The regional
Public Transport
Authority
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The RATP Group in
the world
100 local operators on 4 continents.
17000 employees.
One of the 5 major world operators
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2.
How design is understood
in the RATP

Design
for the RATP
Aesthetics
Image
Perception
Functionnalities
Usage
Durability
Feaisability
Maintenability
Economy
Design
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The 1900
Métropolitain:
a new space
An underground world, hygienist and
industrial, totally innovative
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All the volumes of the historical metro
participate to the perception of an
original underground landscape
Renewal of the old
stations since 1998
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The new vaulted station La Dhuys
(2022) seem classical but hosts hidden
contemporary solutions (for
accessibility, for evacuation, …)
A station on the line
11 extension
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Original metro
entrances
in the Paris landscape
The Guimard entrances (1900 – 1911)
ordered by Adrien Bénard, the CMP
Chairman, emphasised the new “Paris
Métropolitain”
Couronnes
Gambetta
Ménilmontant
Temple Champs-Elysées
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Their value has been recognized :
protected as Historical Monuments,
the Guimard entrances now belong
now to the Paris cultural heritage.
Metro entrances
considered as cultural
assets
Abbesses Porte DauphineRichard-Lenoir
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The elevated metro
in Paris
The "métro aérien" is a linear
architecture harmoniously integrated
in a Parisian controlled cityscape
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This structure, full of careful details,
enhances the Paris city and the
metro itself 117 years later.
The elevated metro
in Paris
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The viaduct on the
line 11 extension
The architect Marc Mimram, inspired by
the heritage, has proposed a work
transforming a strong reluctance of the
local authorities in an matter of pride.
Coteaux Beauclair
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New public realms
through tram projects
Since 1992 in the suburbs, the tram
came back everywhere in the Paris
region, changing the urban landscape
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T1 Bobigny (1992)
T6 Vélizy (2014)
T3a Paris (2006)

Architectural
creativity
Where the tram passes, the city is
transformed
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Urban furniture for
the tram stations
On the Parisian line T3, a specific
collection of urban furniture
designed by Wilmotte
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T1 Bobigny (1992)
T3a Paris : the Wilmotte collection (2006)

French cities
transformed by trams
Everywhere, the tram creates a modal shift
towards PT, bike and walk, boosts the city
attractivity, enhances the cityscape.
Nice Tours
Reims Orléans
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Paris
A signs system easily recognisable
and usable, which is now a part of
the local culture
T1 Bobigny (1992)
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London
The "roundel" born in 1934, the
famous Underground map, the red
buses and the tube: carefully
maintained and patiently
modernised icons
T1 Bobigny (1992)
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New York
The New-York subway signage,
designed by Massimo Vignelli:
a reference for all the metro
signages in the world
T1 Bobigny (1992)
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Tokyo The Tokyo metro trains are marked
with their line colors.
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3.
The passengers
information system

4
Information design
Webdesign
Design of the
entrances in the
cityscape
Rolling stock
interior layout
Layout of the platforms
Architecture and
layout of the passageways
Signage design
Design of the ticket
halls
Rolling stock
external design
Customer travels
in the city
A summarized customer journey map
for the metro users
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Identification Stations entrances, tram stations,
bus stops, are all considered as
transport landmarks in the cityscape
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Identification Stations names: always the same
pattern to say "You are here"
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Identification Vehicles: a special typeface for the
buses displays
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Presentation and
programming
Networks and routes: maps and
diagrams are displayed everywhere
and distributed in all the stations
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Several other apps
offering the same service :
Citymapper, ViaNavigo, Moovit, …
Presentation and
programming
The RATP app and all the other mobile
general apps are now the main information
gates to the global Ile-de-France network
The RATP app is
used every day
more than 1,25
million time
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Next Stop Paris : off line app for tourists Mon RER A :
Dedicated to the RER line A
Presentation and
programming
Several other RATP apps have been created
for specific audiences (international
visitors, RER line A users, …)
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Presentation and
programming
The RATP website (www.ratp.fr) is a
complete site about transport, network
news, corporate data, career information
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Presentation and
programming
The new ZenWay interactive touch screens
have received a fully positive response from
the public: 60 terminals are being deployed
Historical PILI
(since 1937)
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Wayfinding In the signage towards rail transport all
the messages use our unified signs
system. Larger panels are deployed.
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Wayfinding Outdoor bus and tram signage is based
on the same references
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Wayfinding The signage towards exits uses the blue
code also used on the local maps
directories
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Wayfinding A specific signage for the barrier-free
pathways is applied with a grey code
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Execution and
adjustment
All the stations concourses and
passageways are fitted with real time
screens
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R
M
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Execution and
adjustment
The real time displays are now
generalized on the platforms
and the bus stops
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R
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Execution and
adjustment
Next stop displays in all the recent
vehicles
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Human services Better tools (redesigned desks,
tablets, new POS material, …) allow
staff and passengers to be closer
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Audio information
Public announcements are recorded by
some staff selected in the company, and
careful sound design is managed with
corporate jingles
Martine Attal
HR assistant – Bus rolling stock Department
Jean-Baptiste Vincenti
Stations assistant – Stations Department
Stella Sainson
Cultural assistant - Communication Department
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5.
The mapping system
and its ingredients

Transport representation
in the land
Because of the shape of the city and
the streets plan of Paris, the use of
both representations is facilitated
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Paris Métro-RER: geographicParis Métro-RER: schematic

Transport representation
in the land
A Darwinian evolution through the
recent history
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1989
1967
1992

Transport representation
in the land
The Paris metro is intimately
inscribed in the city master plan as
shown by this 1939 metro map
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1939

Transport representation
in the land
Let's recognise the major
contribution of Roger Tallon's team
for the RER in 1977
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Urban inspiration for
transport signs
White on dark blue
= relative to the city
Station name "you are at"
Station name "you go to"
Street
name
Old station name Present station name
Exits on the maps
Signage to
the exits
#

Colours and codes Graphic references: the same signs
are used on all our displays.
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Colours and codes Metro line 1 : yellow
Bus line 87 : dark purple
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VOCABULARY
Typography After the Parisine Bold for the signage,
Jean-François Porchez developed the
Parisine suite for the maps
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Dynamic signs On screens or on smartphones the
same signs are now used in motion
design
Next train display on the RER A (Gare de Lyon)
New RATP app
in beta test
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5.
Towards urban navigation

1914: a linear
circulatory world
Passengers walk as mice in tubes:
they only must be guided
Londres – Charing Cross
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2022: a 3D
underground world
Underground spaces can be
discovered: passengers must now be
oriented
La Défense
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Underground
interchanges systems
From the book "Urban mangroves"
(David Mangin, architect)
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Urban hubs as
pedestrian zones
The central Paris interchange [Les
Halles – Châtelet-Les Halles –
Châtelet] : a pedestrian-oriented
interchange local map.
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A multichannel
environment
The passengers trips rely on parallel
information channels: their coherence
builds trust
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Systems in the space Good information needs a perfect
combination of signs, objects and
spaces
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Space and e-space
Space
E-space
Individual
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6.
Conclusions

Network logos Through a transport logo
a city can be recognised
Paris Madrid London
Vienna
Montréal
Mexico Tokyo
CairoBilbao
Hong-Kong São Paulo
Rotterdam
Moscow
Singapore
Berlin
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Stations Through the stations designs, too
Paris
Moscow Berlin
London Bilbao
Hong-Kong
London
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Information design And finally, through the networks
information systems
Paris
Tokyo
London
Barcelona
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New challenges for
transit mapping
1. Easy navigation in 3D spaces ?
2. Living (moving) maps in real time ?
3. Universal language (to allow media competition) ?
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yo.kaminagai@ratp.fr - @yok75 #