Even underground tube signs and bus stops , on some of the maps you see on the street they will use the little signs and place them on the map so that you can easily pinpoint where the place you need is, which is helpful .
There are some that may pefer text to symbols but me personally , i feel like symbols are more of a need then text , as some people just may not be able to read and will need the symbols to work things out .
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fpic-14819800%2Fstock-photo-illustration-of-everyday-signs-and-symbols.html&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=By3YTvY1X4V30M&tbnh=257&tbnw=196&zoom=1&docid=6guMkfPhoNM0qM&hl=en&ei=19bRUbi7KIez0QXfm4HgCA&ved=0CAIQsCU
