First, transit officials in New York City said goodbye to the Metrocard.
Now the MTA is waving farewell to another transit icon: the famed subway map.
“This is a lynchpin moment,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber, who watched the unveiling of the system’s first major map overhaul since 1979. Today, the transportation authority’s maps and graphics team was installing them at the Times Square station. In the coming weeks, 22,000 paper maps will blanket the system -- in every car of every train, and in every station.
“You can talk about the Bronx. Times Square, Statue of Liberty,” said Demetrius Crichlow, the New York City Transit president, who added the subway map as another iconic addition to the list of what’s quintessentially New York.
“Puts together all of the dots of everything you need to see in New York,” he said.
The new maps are an homage to Vignelli’s 1972 design. With bright bold colors for each subway line. And broad strokes to make them easier to see.
The MTA solicited feedback from focus groups in recent weeks — and got an earful. The transfer hubs weren’t as clear as they could be, the feedback said. So they added new markings to make it clear. That for example, at Union Square, you can switch from the R train to the 5 train without leaving the station.
“There’s a lot on this map that will make it easier for people to see,” said Andrew Albert, an MTA board member who consulted with the art team to make sure they were responding to commuter concerns. For example, he advised them to make sure the L train shifted south towards Canarsie.
Many riders celebrated the revamped look. But Kathleen McCabe, a Manhattan resident who’s used the subway system for decades, wasn’t impressed.
“I hope they didn’t spend a lotta money on this,” she said.
The MTA says it cost “next to nothing” and because they used existing staff it was a “four-digit expense.”
And other riders seemed pleased.
“You could see it much better and more clear,” said Wells Brown, a daily commuter from Flatbush.
Subway riders can see the new subway map here.
