ConCraftGaming

56 minutes ago, Lance said:

After looking at this map, I have to say that in it's present state, I don't like it at all. Right now, it looks completely unfinished and slapping a "beta" label on it does not absolve it from criticism, especially when it looks like an alpha release. First and foremost, they need to decide on a map style. Using a semi-diagrammatic system map overlaid with a completely geographic topographical map is completely messy for no reason. If the goal was to show stations in relation to their general locations like the regular map, they should've used an overlay of that map rather than a 100% geographical one. It would result in less zigzagging lines that currently appear on the live map.

On the subject of the zigzagging lines, what's up with that? Why do lines have to parallel each other to show station connections and transfers? It's less noticeable at Columbus Circle where 7th Avenue will curve nearly 60 degrees to line up with 8th Avenue, but it's an egregious error at Canal St where Broadway juts over to the Lexington Ave line to hit that station, then bounces back to align with the eponymous street to hit the City Hall station. There's also the question of why there are so many 90 degrees turns on various lines that don't actually happen in real life. If they can do angled curves elsewhere, why does the Brighton line need to make four sharp turns between Brighton Beach and West 8 Street? Why is the Broadway-Manhattan Bridge connection completely eliminated in favor of what looks like another East River tunnel bypass?

Even ignoring some of the bizarre design choices and map overlays, I don't find this a particularly useful map at present compared to various 3rd party options readily available. Why is everything so small while still being so condensed at the same time? Users cannot see station names until they zoom in to a neighborhood. It's even worse for the subway lines, most notably on Queens Blvd. It's especially hard to see the various services on shared trunk lines as the line widths are inexplicably one pixel wide unless the map is zoomed in to the station level. As most people will be using this map on their phones, it would be much more useful if service lines were wider and more pronounced at higher zoom levels as there's presently very little contrast overall. Same thing with station labels. Another thing apparent, and which partially defeats the purpose of using a geographical map overlay, is that the roads also do not appear until the map is zoomed in fully, though it's unknown whether this is a limitation of the map overlay or something designed by the MTA. Another issue with the overlay and this circles back to an earlier point, is the complete lack of contrast. Everything from the general landmass/water to the roads to the parks are all in either in shades of light gray/white or a very light shade of green.

Another tick against this map is its current iteration is that it's presently very slow and buggy. Pulling up the real-time arrivals or moving the map can be a slow process at times due to system requirements. If this is to be used by the average consumer and become a necessary travel tool, the app must be optimized for more lower end devices rather than the latest and most powerful devices currently available.

While this map is a big step in the right direction, showing actual current service visually for the first time in an official capacity rather than through third party apps and programs, it has a long way before it can replace those other apps.

Don't forget that the trains are not actually live, but based off of the schedule!

On 5/15/2020 at 10:25 AM, Q43LTD said:

I meant for me. Since it's a Manhattan route, 2250 would be to the Hub, 2251 is to West Harlem or Manhattanville 

Are those the actual codes for the M125?

On 6/1/2019 at 11:04 AM, checkmatechamp13 said:

The old pattern where the local went further out than the limited made no sense. But in any case I don't think it will be too bad. There is a lot of turnover at 149th Street anyway

As someone who regularly takes the Bx15, I disagree. Sure, during the morning rush, not many people stay on past 149th, but Bx15 Limiteds become fairly crowded before 149th Street during the PM rush and on weekends. Having an M125 will cause more overcrowding on the already crowded 2 and 5 trains and will also cause the bus stop to be more overcrowded as well.