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History & Evolution of the Subway Map


Harry

Which style of subway map do you like the most?  

35 members have voted

  1. 1. Which style of subway map do you like the most?

    • 1920's to 1940's
      3
    • 1950's to 1960's
      6
    • 1970's
      25
    • 1980's
      43
    • 1990's
      28
    • Present
      30


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Do you have a larger version of the 1969 map? That one looks interesting and I don't think I've seen it before.

 

My favorite era in map design was the 1970s, but unfortunately the map is rather hard to read. I remember seeing a modern updated version of the classic Vignelli map last year -- that was a nice one.

 

I'm also working on my own subway map that should be finished soon.

 

They should consider getting rid of the bus connection bubbles on the map, they make everything cluttered up.

 

I agree, but they should keep the airport bus routes on the map.

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Do you have a larger version of the 1969 map? That one looks interesting and I don't think I've seen it before.

 

My favorite era in map design was the 1970s, but unfortunately the map is rather hard to read. I remember seeing a modern updated version of the classic Vignelli map last year -- that was a nice one.

 

I'm also working on my own subway map that should be finished soon.

 

 

 

I agree, but they should keep the airport bus routes on the map.

 

 

True, a simpler version though. As for the bus connections, the MTA should print out booklets that contain all the bus connections for each station, that could help a lot.

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You know what I miss the most. Is how the 80s and 90s map neverr had the Railroad map shown. In the back tehy had strips maps of each routes kinda like getting a Route schedule. I Miss it! Damn the (MTA) was the best before the 2000s entered =(!

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You know what I miss the most. Is how the 80s and 90s map neverr had the Railroad map shown. In the back tehy had strips maps of each routes kinda like getting a Route schedule. I Miss it! Damn the (MTA) was the best before the 2000s entered =(!

 

Personally I LOVED the line by line guides on the map. The "system maps" were on the BACK too. When you opened up the map you'd see the individual line by line maps, with Manhattan trunk lines together. Transfer points were indicated clearly at every stop as were the service intervals the train made certain stops.

 

Plus the service guides on the system map were very cool and useful too

 

It was a toss up between 1980's and 1990's style maps for me but I went with 1980's. There were some "Experiments" with the 90's maps I didn't like, such as the 1992 maps which had all the general info about riding the subway in every language ever. I did find the design of the 1997 maps interesting, with the crazy cover though...but the 1980's style to me was "tried and true" and provided a lot of relevant info even if it didn't include MNCR and LIRR.

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Personally I LOVED the line by line guides on the map. The "system maps" were on the BACK too. When you opened up the map you'd see the individual line by line maps, with Manhattan trunk lines together. Transfer points were indicated clearly at every stop as were the service intervals the train made certain stops.

 

Plus the service guides on the system map were very cool and useful too

 

It was a toss up between 1980's and 1990's style maps for me but I went with 1980's. There were some "Experiments" with the 90's maps I didn't like, such as the 1992 maps which had all the general info about riding the subway in every language ever. I did find the design of the 1997 maps interesting, with the crazy cover though...but the 1980's style to me was "tried and true" and provided a lot of relevant info even if it didn't include MNCR and LIRR.

 

Yup thats what i mean. But why couldnt the (MTA) seperate Railroad mapping from Rapid Transit Mapping?

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The current map is ok, however i prefer Kick map, because it clarifies where a train will & wont stop easily at a glance. It is also slightly more physically accurate in terms of where the tracks actually are in relation to each other. I have both iTrans and kickmap on my iPhone, however i only use iTrans to look up subway alerts.

 

- A

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The current map is ok, however i prefer Kick map, because it clarifies where a train will & wont stop easily at a glance. It is also slightly more physically accurate in terms of where the tracks actually are in relation to each other. I have both iTrans and kickmap on my iPhone, however i only use iTrans to look up subway alerts.

 

- A

 

Kickmap is the best map around! It's too bad there's no place to buy them at, I checked Barnes and Noble and I didn't see anything, unless I checked in the wrong places.

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While the 1972 subway map is my favorite, I like the back of the 1974 subway map. Each subway line is shown by a pennant in the line's color and underneath is a list of stations that you can make a checkmark next to.

 

I also like the 1968 and 1969 Rapid Transit Guide subway maps and the 1939 B.M.T. World's Fair Travel Guide.

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