Narrative:

[Mer] had [multiple departures]. During our short time on frequency; about 1/3rd of the pilots incorrectly turned on A1 for rwy 31; rather than a (as directed). The controller was obviously frustrated and ridiculed pilots for not being able to discern the difference between a and A1 ('taxiway alpha one has the large a and 1'). We heard this ridicule on the way in; so were on high alert and thankfully avoided this problem. But when a large fraction of presumably competent pilots all make the same error; something is clearly wrong with the layout and/or signage. In this case; taxiway a is both parallel to the runway and turns to approach the threshold. My recollection is that other than one marking painted on the ramp there is no clear signage that the a 'turn' happens shortly after A1. But in any case; [in my opinion] the parallel taxiway should have a different designation (e.g.; zulu).a related problem that occurred several times is that pilots were confused about whether to taxi directly from the terminal to taxiway a; or cut across the vast (empty) tarmac to shorten the taxi towards a; or taxi to the ill-defined run-up area near the large hangar several hundred meters west of the 31 threshold. This confusion added to the controller's obvious frustration. My recollection is that many of the ramp markings are non-standard (e.g.; white lines demarcating movement/non-movement). Some paint and new signs would lower tension for everyone and make for a safer and more pleasant environment.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot reported multiple other pilots were confused by the Taxiway A signage at the Taxiway A1 and A intersections and mistakenly taxied onto Taxiway A1 at MER. Also; ramp markings are faded and may be nonstandard.

Narrative: [MER] had [multiple departures]. During our short time on frequency; about 1/3rd of the pilots incorrectly turned on A1 for Rwy 31; rather than A (as directed). The controller was obviously frustrated and ridiculed pilots for not being able to discern the difference between A and A1 ('taxiway alpha one has the large A and 1'). We heard this ridicule on the way in; so were on high alert and thankfully avoided this problem. But when a large fraction of presumably competent pilots all make the same error; something is clearly wrong with the layout and/or signage. In this case; taxiway A is both parallel to the runway and turns to approach the threshold. My recollection is that other than one marking painted on the ramp there is no clear signage that the A 'turn' happens shortly after A1. But in any case; [in my opinion] the parallel taxiway should have a different designation (e.g.; Zulu).A related problem that occurred several times is that pilots were confused about whether to taxi directly from the terminal to taxiway A; or cut across the vast (empty) tarmac to shorten the taxi towards A; or taxi to the ill-defined run-up area near the large hangar several hundred meters west of the 31 threshold. This confusion added to the controller's obvious frustration. My recollection is that many of the ramp markings are non-standard (e.g.; white lines demarcating movement/non-movement). Some paint and new signs would lower tension for everyone and make for a safer and more pleasant environment.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.