Regional Mapping & Wayfinding
The Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project aims to make it easier for travelers to navigate and explore the Bay Area using public transit and connecting services.
The Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project is working to make it easier to ride transit in the Bay Area by making wayfinding materials (maps, signs, screens, etc.) more consistent and easier to identify. Whether you are traveling by bus, rail, ferry, or a combination, the signs and communication systems will be the same across all nine Bay Area counties.
The complex process of designing new regional wayfinding standards is being led by MTC, with the partnership of transit riders, Bay Area cities and counties, and all two dozen Bay Area transit agencies.
Project Goals
There are three main goals for the Mapping and Wayfinding Project:
- Provide easy-to-understand, dependable and familiar transit information for travelers, regardless of where they are in the Bay Area
- Make it easy for transit agencies to update signs and implement new standards, including common parts and processes
- Support the social, environmental, economic and equity goals of Plan Bay Area 2050 – the long-range regional plan – by increasing transit visibility and ridership
The mapping and wayfinding project team will create a set of design standards for Bay Area transit agencies to use at their facilities, stations and stops, including: directional signs, maps, diagrams and information about how to pay fares and ride. These standards will include a unified and consistent design language that makes it easier for riders to identify information and use transit.
Project Details
The current phase of the Mapping and Wayfinding Project involves the installation of new signage and maps at nine major transit hubs around the region and a selection of full end-to-end bus routes in the North Bay as part of the pilot projects.
The pilots are intended to test the operational feasibility of widescale production, installation and maintenance of the new wayfinding system. The pilot project installations are currently in planning with agency partners.
New prototype maps and signs were installed at test locations in El Cerrito and Santa Rosa in late 2024 and early 2025 to gather public feedback. The Santa Rosa Transit Mall, the nearby Santa Rosa Downtown SMART station and the El Cerrito del Norte BART station are served by multiple transit agencies and a mixture of bus and rail options.
Results of the evaluation report released in June 2025 indicate the new test maps and signs significantly improved riders’ ability to use transit and to find needed information.
Pilot Sites
The pilots will fully build out signage and wayfinding at the two prototype locations, and at seven additional locations around the region:
- Larkspur SMART & Ferry Terminal (Marin County)
- Santa Rosa Transit Mall & Downtown SMART station (Sonoma County)
- Vallejo Transit Center & Ferry Terminal (Solano County)
- Suisun-Fairfield Station (Napa County selection, located in Solano County)
- El Cerrito del Norte (Contra Costa County)
- Dublin/Pleasanton (Alameda County)
- Palo Alto Transit Center (Santa Clara County)
- Millbrae (San Mateo County)
- Powell St (San Francisco County)
In 2027, after testing is complete, the Bay Area will be ready to install new, easier-to-understand materials at thousands of transit stations and stops throughout the region.
Project Timeline
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Project Launch | 2022 |
| Prototype Installation & Public Engagement | Fall 2024-Winter 2025 |
| Pilot Projects | 2026-2027 |
| Installation Throughout the Region | 2027 and beyond |
Public Engagement & Staff Contact
Input from members of the public is a key component of this project. Currently MTC is asking for public input on the maps and signs. Learn more about the project, view samples and learn how to provide feedback on the Maps and Signs web page.
Do you have general questions or comments about the Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project? Contact the project team via email rmwp@bayareametro.gov.
The Regional Mapping and Wayfinding Project is developing new signs to make it easier for travelers to navigate and explore the Bay Area using public transit.
“Wayfinding” describes the way people orient themselves in physical locations and move from place to place. Transit wayfinding tools include maps, diagrams, signs, screens and other devices that help riders plan their journey and get around.
Wayfinding tools are often items in the physical environment, like landmarks and signs that display information along streets, transit entrances and other pathways to major destinations. Good wayfinding makes travel less stressful, even when you are going somewhere new.
Today, public transit has no universal system of signs and communications (unlike the national system of standard highway signs for drivers). Every transit agency develops its own signs, maps and informational tools for riders. This can make it challenging to ride buses, trains or ferries, especially when a trip involves transferring between different transit agencies, or if the customer has other barriers to using or understanding the provided information.
The Mapping and Wayfinding Project team will create standards for Bay Area transit agencies. These standards will be developed through a process of consultation, discussion, testing and ultimately agreement on the plans for how they will be implemented. The goal is to create a system that is predictable, reliable and easy to use – for the transit riders of today and in the future.
MTC is committed to creating a regional mapping and wayfinding system that allows transit riders to make trips that are easy for all to navigate.
In 2023, MTC held four collaborative workshops to understand transit experiences and challenges faced by communities most impacted by inequitable transit access. Workshop participants included individuals with travel-limiting disabilities, people of color, seniors, people with low incomes and people with low English proficiency.
Feedback highlighted the need for clearer directions, more accessible stop information and better guidance on payment and station amenities. Building on this input, the prototypes included improved maps, brighter and clearer signs, and inclusion of printed schedule panels, in addition to tests of tactile panels to help blind and low-vision riders find their bus stop.
In 2024, MTC convened a project-specific Accessibility Working Group, providing a space for transit riders with disabilities to share their experiences and perspectives directly with the project team. Over the subsequent year, members have helped evaluate the prototype wayfinding signage and provided input on further signage development through an accessibility lens.
