Right out of the government sign manual, this sign is a good example of a failure to communicate effectively. What is light rail anyway? Is there a corresponding sign for heavy rail? Light Rail is an engineering or planning term, usually meant to distinguish aboveground urban commuter trains from belowground trains, but the term has little meaning for consumers – those people for whom the sign is intended. Nobody says “Let’s take the light rail downtown. Oh, there’s the sign.”
What commuters respond to is a system name, usually a local branding term – the T in Boston, subway in New York, the Underground in London, Bart in San Francisco or Metro in many cities (Atlanta, D.C., Los Angeles). Images and words on public signs should speak the language of the users.