Naming Conventions

Canonical Names & URLs

Whenever you create a new page for something, always use the full, official name for it. Redirect pages can be set up for abbreviations and common nicknames which load the actual page. For example, links to BART automatically forward to Bay Area Rapid Transit and in internet speak the web page address/url everything points to is called the "canonical url".

Because abbreviations are better known than the official names sometimes, they are going to be recommended in most cases and the redirects have already been set up. There are still some standards that should be followed.

Copied from the home page

• The pages for station names should all end with "station" at the end and without any specific agency's name.
  • Example: "West Oakland Station" not "West Oakland (BART)" or just "West Oakland".
  • If there are more than one station with the same name, add the city name. Example: "Civic Center Station (San Jose)".
  • When separate agencies have completely separate/unconnected stations which share the same name, then add the agency name. Example: "San Bruno Station (BART)" and "San Bruno Station (Caltrain)".

Note: all the above refers to the page names and isn't what needs to be written in articles. In most cases there will be enough context you can drop all the qualifiers. A page listing the Caltrain stations wouldn't need you to add "...Station (Caltrain)" at the end of it.

• Whenever possible, avoid naming a bus/rail line by only it's letter or number. A single number makes for a very small link to click, but can cause confusion between agencies and would lead to disambiguation pages asking "do you mean... 1 (Muni), 1 (SamTrans), 1 (AC Transit), ...?"
  • Muni is easy because the lines are always the letter/number a dash and the name (example: "30-Stockton")
  • AC Transit uses at least some named lines, I noticed the 1R is named the "1R International Rapid" is this true of all lines?
  • How do we handle others?

Proper Naming

Routes

• AC Transit: ?
• Golden Gate Transit: ?
• Muni: Name using the route letter/number, a dash and the line name. ex. 14-Mission, F-Market & Wharves
• SamTrans: Name with SamTrans followed by a space and the route number or letter. ex. SamTrans 292, SamTrans KX
• VTA buses: Name with VTA followed by a space and the route number. ex. VTA 22, VTA 180
• VTA light rail: Use the full name of the route. ex. Alum Rock - Santa Teresa, Mountain View - Winchester. The "route number" (ex. 901) should not be used only except to indicate that it is used only in the timetables on VTA's web site.

Agencies

• AC Transit
  • Short for Alameda-Contra Costa Transit, which is quite a mouthful. Unfortunately, a lot of people, including those in the press, mis-state AC Transit as Alameda County Transit which is never to be used here.

• BART
  • Short for Bay Area Rapid Transit, but for most cases BART is probably better.
  • Never use B.A.R.T..

• Caltrain
  • Never use the old intercap spellings "calTrain" or "CalTrain". That dates back to when it was owned by Caltrans (California Department of Transportation).

• Muni and the SFMTA
  • Short for San Francisco Municipal Railway, which many riders don't know, but the full name is discouraged unless the context makes it the better link name to use.
  • Never use all-caps "MUNI". (Yes, that is how it's written in the stations and on signs, those have everything in written in uppercase)
  • Muni should only be used to refer to Muni service, vehicles and infrastructure. When discussing any agency innerworkings which aren't related to the service, be sure to use SFMTA or the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

• SamTrans
  • Always use the capitalization of "SamTrans" with the first s and the t capitalized. The official logo only capitalizes the T, but any time it's written it should start with a capitol s.

• VTA
  • Short for Valley Transportation Authority. The full name is actually Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, however the words "Santa Clara" are dropped from the acronym. The full name is discouraged unless the context makes it the better link name to use.
  • Use "Santa Clara VTA" if it is necessary to distinguish it from other operators with similar names.
  • Never use SCVTA.