One of the most interesting parts of The Waterfront BIA's enhanced wayfinding and public information pilot, which we internally call "Oliver 180°" because the signs only point east and west (not 360° like TO360), is seeing what QR codes people are scanning. Here are some findings from this summer's pilot:
1) People are very interested in getting to the Toronto Islands, with 422 total scans from people looking to find Ferry Time information.
2) People are coming to the waterfront to find something to do, with 459 total scans leading people to our events page
3) Finding a public washroom is in high demand, especially at Canada's Sugar Beach and to a degree at HTO Park where the urban beaches encourage people to hangout for an extended period of time.
While these scans are only in the hundreds, they help us to understand what people are looking to find when they interact with our signs. During our observation periods I noticed people taking photos of the information on the signs to save for later - a good sign that the information was useful to them.
I am excited to continue this enhanced wayfinding and public information pilot again in future years, focusing on finding ways to help people find information about the many businesses, parks, events, cultural institutions, and amenities that are here to enjoy on the waterfront. A big thank you for all the help from the folks at Parks Forestry and Recreation, Erica Roppolo, Doug Bennet, Noah Kherani, Howie Dayton for helping us get the agreement in place to test these signs out this year!!