Update: Metro’s board voted 6-1 Thursday to approve the name change from Largo Town Center to Downtown Largo. The Blue and Silver Line terminus station is in Prince George’s County.

Board member Tracy Hadden Loh was the only no vote. She had previously said she thought the “downtown” name could confuse people unfamiliar with the region and rail system. There was no discussion before the vote.

Original story: In recent months, local officials have been asking Metro to change the name of stations in their area to reflect a revitalized neighborhood, and Metro has largely been granting their preferred choice. That’s despite public surveys done by Metro that often show riders don’t like or agree with the new names.

The flurry of four recent changes is ahead of the release of a new WMATA Metrorail map later this year. That’s happening because the new Silver Line extension, opening later this spring, requires lots of map and sign changes, and all of these changes can all be reflected on the new map at the same time.

The latest request from Prince George’s County is for changing “Largo Town Center” to “Downtown Largo.” The request got preliminary approval with a 2-1 vote on Thursday. The full board will vote on the name change on Jan. 27.

The terminus station on the Maryland end of the Blue and Silver Line has developed rapidly in recent years and Prince George’s County officials want the station name to reflect a new reality — that this area is becoming the “downtown” of Prince George’s County.

But several riders and Metro board member Tracy Hadden Loh say this could create unnecessary confusion for harried tourists and riders unfamiliar with the system when they see or hear “Downtown Largo” they might not know that’s not downtown D.C.

“(If we look at) the results of our own survey… as well as our own common sense tells us that there could be an issue here,” Hadden Loh said. “Our own survey showed that renaming the station to ‘Largo’ performed much better and I think that it’s a unique name that captures the sense of place.”

Metro’s own survey agreed, according to Metro’s head of communications and marketing Lynn Bowersox.

“When we tested ‘Downtown Prince George’s County’ and ‘Downtown Largo,’ the downtown name was confusing for some folks,” she said. “Downtown can be in a lot of different places in the region and I believe that’s what drove the strong dislike.”

Bowersox says some confusion will be reduced by having exterior digital train signs showing just “Largo” as the end-of-line station, with other signage, website and other instances will using “Downtown Largo.”

A survey of 1,942 riders found that only 22% of them liked the name “Downtown Largo.” About 62% said they liked the current name (Largo Town Center) and 61% said they liked “Largo.” Only 6% said they liked the other option: “Downtown Prince George’s County.” A smaller survey of 25 Prince George’s County residents at a community meeting found 23 liked the name “Downtown Largo.”

Metro has also approved name changes in recent months including:

• “Tysons Corner” replaced with “Tysons”
• “Prince George’s Plaza” replaced with “Hyattsville Crossing”
• “White Flint” replaced with “North Bethesda”

All of these changes were preferred by localities and jurisdictions that were trying to rebrand an area.

Rider frustration has grown as each change gets approved other their objections, leaving some to wonder why they even participate in a survey if Metro does the opposite of what the majority of riders like.

Bowersox says station naming surveys get a lot of attention and a lot of participation “because people can feel emotionally connected to stations, particularly in their own communities.”

Board chair Paul Smedberg said he had concerns denying Prince George’s their preferred name when they have given deference to localities in the past. Don Drummer, who represents Maryland on the board, said Prince George’s naming process was long and thought out and they strongly wanted the name.

Smedberg said it’s worth considering revisiting the station renaming policy, which was last edited about a decade ago.