NYC Subway Map Reimagined To Be More Tourist Friendly

New Yorkers have a lot of love for the New York City subway map, but that doesn't mean it's the best version of itself—yet. Tourists and locals in unfamiliar locales pore over the map in ire when they find themselves on an express train whizzing by their stop with no halt in site. Finnish designer Tommi Moilanen has recrafted the subway map in an attempt to put an end to that. Moilanen's new version of the mass transit map falls somewhere between Massimo Vignelli's largely discarded 1972 design—the signage his firm created, though, still dots every single NYC subway station—and John Tauranac and company's 1978 remaking.

As per the Observer, Moilanen focused on isolating express and local lines, demarcating major landmarks like Central Park and the Empire State Building, and more clearly identifying station names and major transfers. The map also takes the (controversial) stand of including the PATH train "since it really is a subway type rapid transit system connecting New Jersey to Manhattan...[and] also accepts Metro Card as does AirTrain JFK which is treated in a similar manner on the map," Moilanen explains. Is Moilanen's version a map for the New York City of the early 21st century, or is it no better than Tauranac's?

· The New York City Subway Map Redesigned [NYO]
· Imagining a Vignelli Subway Map With Correct Geography [Curbed]
· How New York City's Subway Map First Got Its Colors [Curbed]