[denizen467]

^ I wonder if there is any common thread to those urban neophytes -- elderly; rural; language barrier; etc.? Also, whether the big confusions happened on really frigid, windy, or rainy days, etc. By the way, five hundred guests -- wow, you can be chair of the board of "platinum" hosts. (Plus, you could buy a round of beers for people on the forum...)

But your observations are a gold mine of data points. City planners, tourism planners, and many others could really learn a lot from that.

Also, whenever I go by Chicago Station on the el I always picture a gaggle of tourists suddenly seeing the sign as soon as the doors open, and looking at each other and say "whoops, we're here!" and bolting onto the platform, only to soon discover they're nowhere near where they want to be. People don't take that concern seriously, but they're failing to consider the mindset of various visitors and the various ways they may be arriving (solo or in a group; capable of English or not; fatigued after a long-haul or not; in a huge rush or not; afraid to consult strangers or not; etc.). So your findings about Chicago Station finally provide evidence. If we're even half-serious about tourism (and lots of City and State dollars are indeed being spent promoting in Asia, for example) then we need to eliminate obvious potential for confusion. Take any friction out of the system if it's low hanging fruit.

Of course, at the same time, there's no cure for sheer stupidity. So hopefully there's an app (hello, maps app) for that.