Ever since I started riding the subway, I had wondered about the flooring of the subway stations. There was gray tile everywhere, except for around the entrances to the subway doors. There were also seemingly random tiles running from the elevators and stairs to one of the doors. They were bump and raised with different shapes. I thought it was odd.
I went to work riding the same train as my wife, and she explained that these tiles were set so that blind people could navigate through the subway station by themselves. The tiles follow a pattern. At the beginning and end of each set of tiles, the tiles are raised in a set of circles. In the tiles between there are long columns raised on each tile. If you follow the columned tiles, you will eventually end up at one of the raised circle tiles that represent the exits, either to the subway, an elevator, or the steps. That’s very cool.
She told me that cities in Japan use this to help blind people navigate using public transportation. I had never heard this before, but she explained that people can walk in neighborhoods with these tiles installed in the sidewalk and know when they are crossing streets and where business entrances are. She said that any city block with a Braille library would have these installed to help people find their ways inside. That’s so cool. If I see any more of these raised bumps, I’ll try to follow them myself with my eyes closed to see where they will lead me.
