After pushback an air carrier captain began taxiing on the ramp thinking he was on taxiway B and bec...

Narrative:

After pushing at ewr; we were told to taxi via [taxiway] B and hold short of golf. Before the flight; I had reviewed the charts due to my complete unfamiliarity with ewr. As I had looked at the chart in the moment; I mistakenly thought we were on [taxiway] B. After verifying taxi instructions and announcing intentions with my first officer; we began to taxi on what I thought was [taxiway] B. I mistakenly misread the chart and we were actually taxiing on the ramp. After realizing the mistake; we notified ground and with them got to where we needed to be. As we reread the chart; it seemed to us that the taxi instructions and taxi markings also contributed. There were no markings that showed taxiway B from the ramp and we would have had to taxi out RA to get to [taxiway] B. The taxi instructions should have told us how to get to [taxiway] B. Better situational awareness; better familiarity on the part of the crew; and better markings and taxi instructions all could have prevented the situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After pushback an Air Carrier Captain began taxiing on the ramp thinking he was on Taxiway B and because of the lack of signage; his airport unfamiliarity and incomplete ATC taxi instructions did not know to transition to Taxiway B.

Narrative: After pushing at EWR; we were told to taxi via [Taxiway] B and hold short of Golf. Before the flight; I had reviewed the charts due to my complete unfamiliarity with EWR. As I had looked at the chart in the moment; I mistakenly thought we were on [Taxiway] B. After verifying taxi instructions and announcing intentions with my First Officer; we began to taxi on what I thought was [Taxiway] B. I mistakenly misread the chart and we were actually taxiing on the ramp. After realizing the mistake; we notified Ground and with them got to where we needed to be. As we reread the chart; it seemed to us that the taxi instructions and taxi markings also contributed. There were no markings that showed Taxiway B from the ramp and we would have had to taxi out RA to get to [Taxiway] B. The taxi instructions should have told us how to get to [Taxiway] B. Better situational awareness; better familiarity on the part of the crew; and better markings and taxi instructions all could have prevented the situation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1097581
Time
Date	201306
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	EWR.Airport
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Aero Charts
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 144
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

After pushback an air carrier captain began taxiing on the ramp thinking he was on taxiway B and because of the lack of signage; his airport unfamiliarity and incomplete ATC taxi instructions did not know to transition to taxiway B.