The Kick Map does combine the ‘mildly distorted’ MTA map with the angular, straightforward route approximation of Vignelli’s, as well as separate lines for each route, which I always felt was one great part of Vignelli’s map. I think the MTA’s map is due for a major overhaul.

Flat panels on new subway cars with changing maps (based on time of day) would be a HUGE improvement, as well.

The map that Beck created, and has evolved through time, serves a number of different roles. It has never pretended to be geographically correctly, in fact almost intentionally not. It started life at a time when the Underground system was expanding rapidly into the suburbs. By removing the geography it helped to sell travel by Underground to people who would otherwise, in their mind, have thought that Central London was too far away for them to travel. At that time the furthest point on the system was Aylesbury, 30 or so miles North West of the centre on the Metropolitan Line (purple).

Whilst the map suffers from not being able to show how near or far some places are to each other it has enabled many people to create a mental map for then to work from. There is a central reference point – the River Thames. When this was taken out last year the was a big outcry and the Mayor had it put back again.

I’ve thought of how I’d design a NY subway map and may give it a try sometime. I’ve thought of this basic approach:

1. Portray each line separately, like the KICK map, but using thinner lines (using thinner lines would allow for more geographical accuracy).

2. Portray each line differently depending on if it runs all the time, including late nights and weekends, or doesn’t run late nights, doesn’t run weekends, or runs only during rush hour. I’m thinking of a solid line with a black border for trains -like the 6- that pretty much run all the time. You can catch a 6, or a 4 or 5 running on the 6 line and making 6 stops, at 3 on Sunday morning but this is not the case with many, maybe most, lines. A train that runs all days, including weekends, but not late nights would be a solid line with a white border. A train that doesn’t run weekends would be shown as a series of dashes, and a train that only runs rush hours would be shown as a series of dots.

For example, on the Lexington Avenue line, the 6 would be a solid green line with a black border. The 4 and 5 would be solid green lines with white borders in Manhattan, but the 5 would become a series of dashes in Brooklyn. Since the lines themselves are treated differently, there is no need to space them far enough or make them thick to distinguish them.

And no bus or SIR information, though you might want to show at least the NYC portion of the PATH and the various commuter trains. Now the bus map is the one that needs a pretty radical redesign.

I did OK with the T map even when I didn’t know Boston at all, but I’ve been lately potentially training a trip to London and I’ve found the London Tube map to be outrageously difficult for someone who doesn’t know much about London yet.