MTA launches real-time first-of-its-kind 'live subway map'

[TeeLow]

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The MTA on Tuesday launched its first-ever "Live Subway Map," a first of its kind digital guide to navigating the subway system in real time.

The new map, which allows riders to plan trips more easily by taking into account service changes and seeing train movements as they happen, is the byproduct of an 18 month-long public-private partnership between the MTA, the Transit Innovation Partnership, and Brooklyn-based global design and technology firm Work & Co.

"It is absolutely unique," interim President of New York City Transit Sarah Feinberg said. "It's the first of its kind in North American, and we believe first of its kind globally."

https://map.mta.info/#@40.70949,-73.97853,14z

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I just tried it on my iPad. Impressive, especially compared to SubwayTime, which sucks.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

My $0.02...

 

The train symbol should be more distinct from the route color on lines that use darker colors (), especially for visually impaired or colorblind customers.  Or, instead of a grey rectangle to represent a train, maybe use a train-and-arrow (compare with BusTime's bus-and-arrow icon). 

 The time-of-day background change is not necessary. The map is easier to see with a light background at all times. For time of day, they could just put a clock on the map. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Gotham Bus Co.

[Eric B]

COOL! (Saw it on NY1). It's based on the regular map, and so has a single line for each route, so both directions are on the same line. THis is something I ghad long ago envisioned track maps for, so I wish either Peter Dougherty, Vanshnookraggen or RMarrerro would offer their maps  to MTA to be used for this!

[TeeLow]

9 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I just tried it on my iPad. Impressive, especially compared to SubwayTime, which sucks.

Probably looks 10 times better than on my cracked screen Android 🙂

Edited October 21, 2020 by TeeLow

[TeeLow]

7 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

My $0.02...

 

The train symbol should be more distinct from the route color on lines that use darker colors (), especially for visually impaired or colorblind customers.  Or, instead of a grey rectangle to represent a train, maybe use a train-and-arrow (compare with BusTime's bus-and-arrow icon). 

 The time-of-day background change is not necessary. The map is easier to see with a light background at all times. For time of day, they could just put a clock on the map. 

It's still in beta. I'm sure suggestions would be welcome.

Here's the original story from ABC: https://abc7ny.com/traffic/mta-launches-live-real-time-digital-subway-map/7192314/

Edited October 21, 2020 by TeeLow

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, TeeLow said:

Probably looks 10 times better than on my cracked screen Android 🙂

Hahaha... Someone asked about it in my group yesterday. The trains could be more pronounced though. 

[Lance]

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.

[jon2305]

6 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.

Agreed. Personally, it's innovative to say the least but yes there are some spots that are way off in geographic nature. From my experience so far navigating thru this map has been choppy.

[B35 via Church]

21 minutes ago, Lance said:

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.....

Whenever I see some product release being categorized by some entity as that of being beta, two things come to mind - "unprofessional" and "half-assed".... Even if something is in its beta stages, people need to stop using that shit as some sort of cloak.... Don't release it.

I would be embarrassed to release something on my own accord that isn't finalized.

[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!

[Lex]

55 minutes ago, Lance said:

review of the map at hand (snipped to save space)

I really don't think I could've given a better review, especially since the poor optimization is enough for me to run out of patience and not really play around with it.

[KK Local]

I have a question. Why on the map, the N and Q lines are following the 4/5 lines down towards lower Manhattan. Should the N/Q lines split from R/W lines at Canal St onto the Manhattan Bridge with the B/D lines?

[LGA Link N Train]

I've seen the track map and @Lance, Ima piggyback on what you stated given that I agree with most of your points.

  I don't mind that this new map is using a geographical "layout", IMO it makes it easier for me to see where everything is, but (as you stated), the map has a bunch of geographical errors that I personally take issue with. I was mainly focused on how they showed the South Side of the Manhattan Bridge as an entirely seperate East River Tunnel (which NGL, we'll need at some point), aside from that, the Chrystie Street Connection, the Brooklyn End of the Williamsburg Bridge, the Archer Avenue (UL) Line, I don't even want to know what they have going on with the Franklin Shuttle and Eastern Parkway Lines, the between Grand Centra and Hudson Yards, the 11th Street cut just to name a majortiy. (Wow, they even got the M60 and Q70 geographically inaccurate although thats somewhat minor)

Another thing is that since the wants to show the locations of Trains in real time, then I think that a Track Map would've have been better suited for this job as it would give a more accurate description of where trains are at any given point in time. (personally not the biggest fan of how 3rd Party apps display the real time location of Trains) although there would be no point in showing non revenue connections, yards or abandoned stations.

Last but not least, presenting GO's and unlanned reroutes are something that are a step in the right directions as they will help riders determine what their next steps will be without getting caught in too much mess (if any), but these are just my 2 cents on this whole beta map. 

(A little extra comment is that the addition of SBS routes would be nice)

Edited October 22, 2020 by LaGuardia Link N Tra

[B35 via Church]

4 hours ago, ConCraftGaming said:

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

Lol..... I'm done.

[Abba]

That’s not true . I think they are live.

[LGA Link N Train]

18 hours ago, ConCraftGaming said:

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

I mean, that could explain why I saw a  and  moving at the same time at Rockefeller and 59th Street-Columbus Circle. If I’m not mistaken, the transponders couldn’t read whether the train was a  or . 

[bobtehpanda]

Say what you want about Jay Walder, but he had the right idea outsourcing the data feeds out to 3rd parties because he didn't trust the MTA to do this in-house.

[T to Dyre Avenue]

On 10/22/2020 at 3:29 PM, KK Local said:

I have a question. Why on the map, the N and Q lines are following the 4/5 lines down towards lower Manhattan. Should the N/Q lines split from R/W lines at Canal St onto the Manhattan Bridge with the B/D lines?

Yes, this one really jumped out at me when I first saw it. Same with the zigzagged  between Brighton Beach and Stillwell. 

[Eric B]

Wow; I didn't even notice that! (nor the zigzag). I was just so exceited at the idea of something like this finally being out! Hope they fix it soon!

Edited October 26, 2020 by Eric B

[KK Local]

12 hours ago, Eric B said:

Wow; I didn't even notice that! (nor the zigzag). I was just so exceited at the idea of something like this finally being out! Hope they fix it soon!

Me Too!

[Eric B]

It seems all those interactive screens they had are gone now. This map would have been a good use forthose. When I used to see them, I had wished there was something like this. I wonder why they got rid of them, and only put up all these non-interactive screens.

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, Eric B said:

It seems all those interactive screens they had are gone now. This map would have been a good use forthose. When I used to see them, I had wished there was something like this. I wonder why they got rid of them, and only put up all these non-interactive screens.

Story a year ago - NYDN or AMNY, I don't remember which - said they were barely used, so they were to be removed.

Now if they made the new LCDs being installed show the night map and GO service changes on the standard subway map, then they'd be useful for more than ads and COVID alerts

[Eric B]

But with this new map, they would likely be more used!