Hey look at this: "The Weekender"!

[Eric B]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/nyregion/new-subway-map-to-help-riders-with-weekend-service-changes.html?src=recg

 

Just happened to find this when clicking a link to a NYTimes article on politics on another board!

 

And there's a big surprise in store, regarding this map!

 

It says it's supposed to launch today, but doesn't seem to be up on the site yet.

[Pablo M 201]

So awesome to see that style reincarnated.

[Guest lance25]

According to the article and pic Newkirk Plaza David posted on SubChat here, the new map will debut this afternoon.

 

I think it's a nice touch going back to the old map, but I believe it was more of a practical choice rather than a stylistic one. I can't see anyone updating that mess of an Illustrator file for every weekend, especially when there are several G.O.s affecting one trunk line.

[lilbluefoxie]

I had that idea to make the weekday only lines in a lighter shade months ago on my site's map http://jonstrainphotos.com/maps/ I did the first one for it in January. You can search for the topic here if you want.

[Guest lance25]

The Weekender does not redraw the usual map so much as annotate it. The A train, for instance, has an irritating habit of running along part of the F line on weekends. But the map, rather than repositioning the A’s blue trail onto the orange F route, simply flags the bypassed stations and offers a written explanation. (Officials said a more dynamic map would be logistically difficult to execute.)

Courtesy The New York Times

 

While not exactly what I was expecting, it is a step in the right direction. Though I guess Shawn Lynch isn't out of a job just yet.

[Eric B]

What I wonder is what made them go back to Vignelli, instead of just going with Kick. Perhaps because Vignelli was something they once used, and they still had the rights to the design, or it in some other way not cost as much to use it?

 

Wouldn't it be funny if this "spread" back to becoming the official map?

[SubwayGuy]

Official notice from MTA.info:

 

http://www.mta.info/news/stories/?story=384

[Guest lance25]

Check it out here.

[GojiMet86]

That's such a cool map.

[Roadcruiser1]

So wait is the train going to be at the Sixth Avenue West 4th Street platform, or is it going to be on the upper level?

[Pablo M 201]

So wait is the train going to be at the Sixth Avenue West 4th Street platform, or is it going to be on the upper level?

Upstairs.

[Amtrak7]

I don't like this at all.

 

-No distinction between busing and express/local runs

-"Flashing dots" is too vague

-Endpoints of GO's are not designated (clicking Jay St reveals nothing about the , clicking 18 Av reveals nothing)

-The need to trace through various segments of your journey to see if a trip will be affected. (ex. Av U to 23rd St would show no problems)

 

The only good coming out of this is the online neighborhood maps.

[FamousNYLover]

It even had neighborhood map that every stations has it!

[Amtrak7]

I have a feeling that Shawn's site will get more traffic because of this.

[Abba]

I don't like this at all.

 

-No distinction between busing and express/local runs

-"Flashing dots" is too vague

-Endpoints of GO's are not designated (clicking Jay St reveals nothing about the , clicking 18 Av reveals nothing)

-The need to trace through various segments of your journey to see if a trip will be affected. (ex. Av U to 23rd St would show no problems)

 

The only good coming out of this is the online neighborhood maps.

 

Give it a week or so.They will probobaly fix some stuff.

[Guest lance25]

I don't like this at all.

 

-No distinction between busing and express/local runs

-"Flashing dots" is too vague

-Endpoints of GO's are not designated (clicking Jay St reveals nothing about the , clicking 18 Av reveals nothing)

-The need to trace through various segments of your journey to see if a trip will be affected. (ex. Av U to 23rd St would show no problems)

 

The only good coming out of this is the online neighborhood maps.

 

I think that the "service by station" portion of the site is only useful if that's the station you're leaving from or heading to. For what you described, the "service by line" section would be more applicable. You can click the bullet and it would show you all the diversions affecting that line.

 

While the design isn't perfect, it's a start that shows they're actually trying to improve communications and how service diversions are delivered. Plus, it's still a work in progress. I wouldn't be surprised if new features were implemented in the coming weeks and months.

 

P.S., I agree with you on the inclusion of the neighborhood maps. Before, the only place to see them was on the Exit Strategy iPhone app and those were from 2009. Now if we can get them in pdf format, that would be nice.

[Amtrak7]

I think that the "service by station" portion of the site is only useful if that's the station you're leaving from or heading to. For what you described, the "service by line" section would be more applicable. You can click the bullet and it would show you all the diversions affecting that line.

 

 

Hence the example I gave for Av U to 23 St. If both your origin and destination have service, it won't turn up anything.

 

And the busing doesn't show at all.

[alejr88]

I first heard of the site in Ben's 2 ave blog, so I checked it every week. Now he has an app that costs 1.99 plus tax at iTunes that gives you the weekend's subway map.

[pjbr40]

i check this out and like it. it look little confusing in beginning but you will understand how they stretch every word out. For Example. the F trains are in 2 sections this weekend. At 18 ave click the dots, then click the see detaiis. in the service note on your left.

[lilbluefoxie]

now that I am home and actually able to play around with this thing, its a very awesome thing they invented here. I still think its interesting that they used the lighter color to denote weekday only service, something I used earlier in my own maps as I mentioned.

[Guest lance25]

Hence the example I gave for Av U to 23 St. If both your origin and destination have service, it won't turn up anything.

 

And the busing doesn't show at all.

 

The line stations from Broad Channel to Far Rockaway are lit up, but you're right about the shuttle.

 

For any other ideas or suggestions, the recommends letting them know here. Whether or not they actually do anything is another matter entirely.

[Eric B]

Quote:

The Weekender does not redraw the usual map so much as annotate it. The A train, for instance, has an irritating habit of running along part of the F line on weekends. But the map, rather than repositioning the A’s blue trail onto the orange F route, simply flags the bypassed stations and offers a written explanation. (Officials said a more dynamic map would be logistically difficult to execute.)

 

Courtesy The New York Times

I see what you mean. I think they should redraw the actual lines according to the reroutes, instead of just having the blinking stations. They can keep that for the purpose of providing additional information for each station affected, but it would be good to see the actual reroutes, just like on the new colored service change notices in the stations.

 

Also one omission I see is that when the terminates at Hoyt-Schermerhorn, they split it at Bedford-Nostrand, requiring a transfer. This is not indicated on the map (not even blinking or anything), and not even by clicking the station.

[alejr88]

@ Eric B: I saw that on the map today but I don't think the will run in two sections. Maybe the will switch tracks after Bergen Street who knows. Theres a link to what I mean:

 

 

Pic is from NYCSubway.org

[Joe]

Instead of developing some nonsense tchotchkes, why don't they get some real work done in the system? Lately, I notice the MTA has been very good at dressing up bad news and nothing more.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Instead of developing some nonsense tchotchkes, why don't they get some real work done in the system? Lately, I notice the MTA has been very good at dressing up bad news and nothing more.

 

 

I agree. What annoys me more is that when they call themselves "helping us", they make things worse! :mad: I mean if you're going to post information then make sure it is correct. It's almost as bad as not posting anything at all. Weekend service in the city is a mess, be it on the bus or the subway and there are so many detours that apparently they can't keep up. For example, they'll mention one detour on the express bus, but miss another one that I know they must've known about because the detour has happened a few times before at the same location, and was planned in advance. These detours can cost you 20 - 30 minutes easily and they really need to understand that just because they're doing construction, it doesn't mean that folks still don't have things to do. We still need to get out, run errands and so on and all of us cannot just jump out and buy a car because if that happened, traffic would be impossible to get through, so we need reliable and efficient transportation.

 

And on the subways, they knock out so many lines at one time that it's like a f*cking maze trying to figure out how to go just a few stops even. If I didn't know any better I'd seriously think that they were trying to discourage folks from traveling anywhere on the weekends. Mind you this city depends on tourists like crazy and if I went somewhere and had such difficulty getting around on the weekends as you can have here in the city, I don't know if I would want to bother to come back.