Template talk:Valley Metro

Station names

What's with the official, incredibly verbose names? Does any other system in the world have such wordy station names?

I propose the following names, following the pattern of other cities where stations refer to landmarks: Wlindley (talk) 17:19, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

The actual station names in most cases reflect the intersecting street first and then the operating street name. I have put discussion in all stations regarding this. We should keep encyclopedic content to the actual station names that are shown in official publication and in informal convention. I am from Phoenix, I do not agree with using the street names, but that was the decision of METRO Light Rail and encyclopedic references must refer to it correctly. --Recnet (talk) 05:23, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

METRO's printed maps actually use station numbers, which seems sure to lead to mass confusion when stations are added (will they be numbered like Japanese houses, in order of construction?) Worse, merchants and schools are now advertising, "Ride the train to station 13" -- probably because the alternative would be, "Ride the train to Washington Street and Central Avenue and Jefferson Street and First Avenue station" -- arrgh. Anyway, I added METRO's station numbers, just like METRO shows it on their maps, as part of the official name; and METRO's printed matter includes a space around the slashes, reproduced here. Please note that "Washington/Central Avenue and Jefferson/1st Avenue Station" steals the world record, being longer even than what was formerly the world's longest railway station name at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.

Furthermore, the current names here should be removed as being insufficiently shorter and perhaps even less helpful than METRO's; currently the Wiki names are "Central Avenue and..." repeatedly, for example, whereas putting the cross-street first (instead of the street that the trolley follows for miles) would both be useful and consistent with METRO's verbose names. I propose that we exclusively use METRO's official sesquipedalian names, which are now correctly shown below, followed by the short, landmark-based names shown in the "Proposed" column. For example, we should have "Washington / Central Avenue and Jefferson / 1st Avenue (City Hall)". We are trying here to be encyclopedic (by documenting the facts, frustrating as they may be) and helpful (by making the world simple to understand). Let us keep things as simple as possible. Wlindley (talk) 15:51, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

(Un)Official Name	Proposed Nickname	Actual name used by METRO	Internal station code
19th Avenue at Montebello Avenue	Chris-town/Bethany Home	1. Montebello / 19th Avenue	MO19
Camelback Road at 19th Avenue	American Medical College	2. 19th Avenue / Camelback	CV19
Camelback Road at 7th Avenue	Melrose	3. 7th Avenue / Camelback	7CB
Camelback Road at Central Avenue	Uptown	4. Central Avenue / Camelback	CBCN
Central Avenue at Campbell Avenue	Central High	5. Campbell / Central Avenue	CMCN
Central Avenue at Indian School Road	Indian School	6. Indian School / Central Avenue	ISCN
Central Avenue at Osborn Road	Park Central	7. Osborn / Central Avenue	OSCN
Central Avenue at Thomas Road	Midtown	8. Thomas / Central Avenue	TOCN
Central Avenue at Encanto Boulevard	Heard Museum	9. Encanto / Central Avenue	ENCN
Central Avenue at McDowell Road	Library	10. McDowell / Central Avenue	MDCN
Central Avenue at Roosevelt Street	Cathedral	11. Roosevelt / Central Avenue	ROCN
Central/1st Avenue at Van Buren Street	Central Station	12. Van Buren / Central Avenue (Westbound) - Van Buren / 1st Avenue (Eastbound)	VBCN/VB1
1st Avenue at Jefferson Street Central Avenue at Washington Street	City Hall	13. Washington / Central Avenue (Westbound) - Jefferson / 1st Avenue (Eastbound)	CEWA/JF1
Jefferson Street at 3rd Street Washington Street at 3rd Street	Convention Center	14. 3rd Street / Washington (Westbound) - 3rd Street / Jefferson (Eastbound)	3WA/3JF
Jefferson Street at 12th Street Washington Street at 12th Street	Eastlake Park	15. 12th Street / Washington (Westbound) - 12th Street / Jefferson (Westbound)	12WA/12JF
Jefferson Street at 24th Street Washington Street at 24th Street	Hollywood Heights	16. 24th Street / Washington (Westbound)- 24th Street / Jefferson (Eastbound)	24WA/24JF
Washington Street at 38th Street	GateWay Community College	17. 38th Street / Washington	38WA
Washington Street at 44th Street	Airport	18. 44th Street / Washington	44WA
Washington Street at Priest Drive	Papago Park	19. Priest Drive / Washington	PRWA
Washington Street at Center Parkway	Center Parkway	20. Center Parkway / Washington	n/a
3rd Street at Mill Avenue	Mill	21. Mill Avenue / Third Street	ML3
5th Street at College Avenue	Sun Devil Stadium	22. Veterans Way / College Avenue	VWCL
University Drive at Rural Road	University	23. University Drive / Rural	UNRR
Apache Boulevard at Dorsey Lane	Dorsey Lane	24. Dorsey / Apache Boulevard	DOAP
Apache Boulevard at McClintock Drive	McClintock	25. McClintock / Apache Boulevard	MCAP
Apache Boulevard at Smith and Martin Roads	Smith-Martin	26. Smith-Martin / Apache Boulevard	SMAP
Apache Boulevard at Price Freeway	Loop 101	27. Price-101 Freeway / Apache Boulevard	PCAP
Main Street at Sycamore	Dobson	28. Sycamore / Main Street	SYMN