B737-300 crew had taxiway incursion at ewr because of poor, or no taxiway signs.

Attributes
ACN	527885
Time
Date	200110
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr.airport
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 120 flight time total : 12000 flight time type : 3458
ASRS Report	527885
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	incursion : taxiway non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	flight crew : became reoriented none taken : anomaly accepted none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Airport Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Airport
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation
Situations
Airport	lighting : ewr.airport markings : ewr.airport procedure or policy : ewr.airport signage : ewr.airport

Narrative:

Taxiing from gate to runway 4L ATC cleared us to taxi on a and north to hold short taxiway D due to lack of clear signage and markings I taxied from on ramp to north and held short of D taxiway. Ewr has the worst taxi ways in the system, no taxi edge lites, poorly marked areas. We were on taxiway a to begin with but there are no markings to clearly show transition to taxiway a as it is displaced somewhat. Basically we taxied on the inner ramp instead of completely on a taxiway.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-300 CREW HAD TXWY INCURSION AT EWR BECAUSE OF POOR, OR NO TXWY SIGNS.

Narrative: TAXIING FROM GATE TO RWY 4L ATC CLRED US TO TAXI ON A AND N TO HOLD SHORT TXWY D DUE TO LACK OF CLR SIGNAGE AND MARKINGS I TAXIED FROM ON RAMP TO N AND HELD SHORT OF D TXWY. EWR HAS THE WORST TAXI WAYS IN THE SYSTEM, NO TAXI EDGE LITES, POORLY MARKED AREAS. WE WERE ON TXWY A TO BEGIN WITH BUT THERE ARE NO MARKINGS TO CLRLY SHOW TRANSITION TO TXWY A AS IT IS DISPLACED SOMEWHAT. BASICALLY WE TAXIED ON THE INNER RAMP INSTEAD OF COMPLETELY ON A TXWY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.