1978 New York Subway Map

(Source: pressthebigredbutton/Flickr)

All-Time Top 10 Posts, October 24, 2011 - April 30, 2012

Following up yesterday’s post, here’s the top ten most viewed entries on Transit Maps of all time:

10. Historical Maps: Berlin S- and U-Bahn Maps, 1910-1936 (link)
9. My Boston MBTA Map Redesign (link)
8. Official Map: New Jersey Transit Rail System (link)
7. Igor Skliarevsky’s Unofficial Integrated Transit Map of Kiev, Ukraine (link)
6. London Underground as Bathroom Tiles (link)
5. Fantasy Map: Vignelli-Style New York Subway Ampersand (link)
4. Fantasy Map: Chicago El Overlaid On New York City (link)
3. Official Map: Washington D.C. Metro “Rush+” System Map (link)
2. Official Map: MBTA Rapid Transit/Key Bus Routes Map – Boston, MA (link)

and at Number 1, the entry that first put Transit Maps on the map (if you’ll pardon the pun!):

1. Historical Maps: Man-Made Philadelphia, 1972 (link)

Top 10 Most Popular Posts on Transit Maps, January-April 2012

The problem with blogging is that after a while, great content gets pushed to the back pages, never to be seen again. As a way to bring them back from the darkness, this post highlights the ten most viewed posts (as reported by Google Analytics) on Transit Maps for the last four months, from January 1 to April 30, 2012.

So without further ado, here they are:

10. Viteks Bariševs’ Unofficial Unified Transit Map of Riga, Latvia (link)
9. Official Map: Key Bus Routes in Central London (link)
8. Official Map: Atlanta, Georgia - MARTA Rail System (link)
7. Historical Maps: Berlin S- and U-Bahn Maps, 1910-1936 (link)
6. My Boston MBTA Map Redesign Unveiled (link)
5. Igor Skliarevsky’s Unofficial Integrated Transit Map of Kiev, Ukraine (link)
4. The London Tube as Bathroom Tiles (link)
3. Fantasy Map: Chicago El Overlaid On New York City (link)
2. Official Map: Washington D.C. Metro “Rush+” System Map (link)
1. Official Map: MBTA Rapid Transit/Key Bus Routes Map – Boston, MA (link)

Tomorrow, I’ll post an All-Time Top 10, dating back to the site’s inception in October of last year.

Official Map: JFK Airport AirTrain Map, New York

This map is at the request of an anonymous follower, who wrote this about this map:

Truly terrible transit map that deserves a lashing: the AirTrain JFK. Way too complicated for something that should be fairly simple. Even worse are the TV screens in the stations showing information about where the train at each platform is going, which completely obscure the most important information.

Now, I can’t comment on the info screens, as I’ve never used the AirTrain, but I do have some thoughts about the map. People movers like this at major airports are a form of transit, albeit in a very small, closed system. Some just shuttle between terminals, but the JFK AirTrain also connects passengers to car rentals, long term parking, and (perhaps most importantly), the New York Subway and the Long Island Railroad, so its scope is bigger than some systems of this type.

Have we been there? I’ve spent long afternoons at JFK waiting between flights (and paying prohibitive prices for drinks at the bar!), but I’ve never used the AirTrain, either to transfer between terminals or head into New York.

What we like: Nowhere near as bad as my anonymous friend says it is. Conveys a lot of useful information - especially for visitors who have never been to New York before - in a relatively clean fashion. The inclusion of all potential costs for patrons is especially handy, and the destinations of the connecting MTA services couldn’t be made clearer. Direction of travel is well indicated, which is good if you’re trying to jump between terminals in a hurry - sometimes it might be quicker to jump on a Howard Beach or Jamaica train instead of the dedicated Terminal Shuttle!

What we don’t like: The drop shadows behind the station name boxes are unnecessary and ugly, as is the stacked treatment of the terminal station names. These would look far better if the boxes that contain the word “Terminal” simply lined up horizontally with the subsequent numbered boxes. Also not entirely sure that we need to see the exact outlines of all the terminals… I don’t know what extra insights a traveler is meant to get from that. I’m guessing that the map is not actually to scale, so it’s not like you can tell how far it is to your gate from the AirTrain station!

Our rating: Functional and chock-full of handy information for visitors to New York. A little fussy and over-designed. 3 stars.

(Source: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - AirTrain web page)

All Is Fare In Love & Brooklyn

Clearest photo I’ve seen yet of this subway map-themed mural in Brooklyn, New York. Aesthetically, seems to have more in common with the London Tube Map than the subway map of its own city.

(Source: brittharris)

lookwhoitis:

Subway Map, New York City

You Are Here

(Source: JFGryphon/Flickr)

Fantasy Map: Chicago El Overlaid On New York City

A bit of whimsy for you today from Reddit, brought to my attention by Twitter user @GordonWerner. The El has been flipped both horizontally and vertically, then rotated to fit Manhattan’s street grid, but the scaling is totally accurate. It looks like The Loop is placed in the area directly below Central Park. A few things from this: it’s actually kind of scary how well this fits; and it’s astounding just how dense the New York subway’s lines really are (shown here in white).

(Source: Reddit)

Unofficial Map: New York Subway by Alex Koplin

New York is continuing its time in the spotlight here at Transit Maps with this brand new subway map by designer Alex Koplin. Looking for all the world like the love-child of the Vignelli diagram and the current MTA map, this is a seriously impressive piece of work that a lot of thought has clearly gone into. I know from experience how difficult it can be to reinvent something that people are familiar with, and this manages to create its own identity while still paying homage to its sources.

Have we been there? Yes.

What we like: An excellent melding of the disparate styles of the two maps, without looking completely derivative, or like the Kick Map, the other hybrid map that I know of. Seems to have a comprehensive key and service guide, although I can’t really make them out in the preview images on his site. Nice inset for Staten Island.

What we don’t like: I’m not totally sold on the heavy weight of the font used throughout: it seems a little heavy-handed, especially for the borough names. The word “Manhattan” seems crammed into Central Park - a slightly smaller font size would allow the type some space to breathe. The one angle that’s not at a multiple of 45 degrees - the jog of the 1 to the Upper West Side from Columbus Circle - stands out like a sore thumb.

Our rating: A fine homage without looking derivative. Four stars.

(Source: H/34 - Alex’s design site)

Fantasy Map: Vignelli-Style New York Subway Ampersand

It’s NYC day here at Transit Maps! This impressive work by Pentagram’s Luke Hayman for Amsterdam-based interior design magazine Eigen Huis & Interieur combines their masthead ampersand with Massimo Vignelli’s subway map. Created for the magazine’s New York issue, the map’s “stations” represent New York design icons, people and institutions. Visit Pentagram’s page about the work for more details: you can even download a poster-sized PDF of the map.

Our rating: Awesome! Five stars!