User:Marc Shepherd/Sandbox 3

The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.

This page in a nutshell: An article describing a New York City Subway station should use the station name shown on the official map. This name should be employed consistently throughout Wikipedia articles that mention the station. Article names should be changed with care, since any change is liable to require many other edits to maintain consistency.

Background

Wikipedia's naming convention is that:

Article naming should prefer what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity, while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature.

Also:

Names of Wikipedia articles should be optimized for readers over editors; and for a general audience over specialists.

Applying these guidelines to New York City Subway station and station complex names poses several difficlties. Station names can be found:

at station entrances and exits
on station platforms
on train signage
in Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) literature
on the MTA website
in secondary sources (books, transit websites, newspaper accounts)

There are many stations for which these sources are in conflict, and many station names have changed over time. Consequently, there are many stations and station complexes for which more than one reasonable name exists.

There is a consensus among Wikipedia editors that the official MTA New York City Subway map—specifically, the PDF version of the map as published on the MTA website (Template:PDFlink)—is the primary source for station and station complex names. While other sources have various claims to authority, The Map is the most readily available authoritative source that shows every station, and is updated reasonably often.

There are some additional guidelines (discussed below), and in some cases The Map is ambiguous. But the principal guideline for naming stations is to use The Map. All other guidelines are just details or special cases that flow from this principle.

Terminology

A New York City Subway station is a facility on one line providing one or more platforms where trains can stop, and passengers can board or alight. A station complex is a similar facility served by two or more lines, where free transfers between the lines are available.

The canonical name of a station or station complex is the principal name that is used in the article title and other places where the correct full name is required.

Each station that is not part of a station complex is described in a separate article. The article name takes the form <station canonical name> (<IRT/BMT/IND> <line name>), such as 103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

Stations that are part of a station complex can be described in separate articles, or in a single article describing the entire complex. Articles describing station complexes have names of the form <station complex canonical name> (New York City Subway) (e.g., Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (New York City Subway)).

Canonical names

Stations

For stations, the canonical name is the name shown on The Map, with the following differences:

Street name suffices are fully written out. For example: Street, Avenue, Boulevard, Square, not St, Av, Blvd, Sq.

Numerical names less than "10th" are fully written out. For example, First, Eighth, not 1st, 8th.

Numerical names higher than "Ninth" are written as ordinal numbers. For example, 42nd, 81st, not 42, 81.

Distinct elements of a name are separated by en-dashes. For example, "42nd Street–Bryant Park", not "42nd Street Bryant Park".

Any other parts of a name that are that are clearly abbreviations or elisions are fully written out. For example, 82nd Street–Jackson Heights, not 82 St–Jackson Hts.

Station complexes

Many station complexes appear on The Map with a single name in bold, in which case the rule for naming the complex is the same as if it were a station.

Where multiple names are shown, the choice of a canonical name for the complex is a matter of editorial judgment. Examples:

Chambers Street–World Trade Center
Franklin Avenue–Botanic Garden

Usage

Article name

The article name takes the form <station canonical name> (<IRT/BMT/IND> <line name>), such as 103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

The article name for a station complex takes the form <station complex canonical name> (New York City Subway) (e.g., Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (New York City Subway)).

Other usages requiring the canonical name

The following usage cases should always employ the canonical name:

The first use of the name within an article
The argument to the "name" parameter in the template {{Infobox NYCS}}
The name of the next stations north/south in the template {{Infobox NYCS}}
The station listing in the article for the line the station is on
The station listings in the articles for each service that visits the station
In lists, including:

-Within narrative text=

Within narrative text, an editor may refer to a station by a shortened version of the canonical name. A particularly long name, such as 81st Street–Museum of Natural History, need not be used any more than once in the same discussion; thereafter, 81st Street will suffice. In many cases, the shorter name will suffice on its own, in contexts where there is no potential for reader confusion.

An article describing the history of a service or line may refer to a station by the name it had during the period under discussion. Any potentially confusing name changes should be explained, but trivial changes need not be explained. For example, it is not necessary to point out that "Grand Central–42nd Street" is also known as "42nd Street–Grand Central."

Additional guidelines for station complexes

The link to a station that is part of a complex should be constructed as if the station were in its own article. For example:

In each case, the former is a redirect to the latter.

Within station listing tables and infoboxes, refer to a station by the canonical name it would have if it were in its own article. For example, any article about the Canarsie Line refers to its Manhattan terminus as "Eighth Avenue," not "14th Street–Eighth Avenue."

Dash usage

Where the canonical name includes a dash, the correct form is the en-dash ("–"). See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dashes). En-dashes are acceptable in article names, but a redirect should be provided from an alternative name constructed with plain hyphens.

Renaming articles

Changing the canonical name of a station or station complex is inherently disruptive. Even for local stations that have only one service, there are likely over half-a-dozen usages that require the canonical name, that must be changed. For a complicated station, there could be twenty or more changes to make. In addition, all double-redirects referring to the station must be changed to single redirects. Some station articles have gone through many names, and could have a dozen or more redirects pointing to them.

The following procedures should be followed before the canonical name of a station or station complex is changed:

Put a proposal on the article's talk page, referring to this guideline, describing how the station or station complex is named on The Map, and the proposed name (if different)
New names with particularly far-reaching effects should also be mentioned on the project page
Do not implement your proposal until other editors have had at least a week to comment
Do not implement your proposal if there is no clear consensus
Do not implement your proposal unless you are also prepared to change all of the other places using the canonical name that need to change