Subway Map Floating on a NY Sidewalk Part 5 [A Brief Overview of the NYC Subway Map]

Because Schien's work depicts a subway map, it is only appropriate to talk about the evolution of the NYC subway map in general.

The subway map has undergone many changes over the years, dating back to when the IRT built the first subway. In the first half of the century, there were actually three competing subway companies in New York: the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit), IND (Independent Subway) and BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan Transit).

[Fun fact: You can actually tell which subway company built a specific line from the number or letter of the route. The numbered routes are IRT services, while the lettered routes A-G are IND services. The other letters in use today are BMT services.]

Here is a brief video by the MTA which explains the three competing subway companies and how to tell which line was run by which company:

Each company created its own map, and this was the norm until the IRT and BMT became bankrupt in 1940. This meant that the subways had to be unified into one entity by the city. (NYC Subway)

IRT map from 1906 (NYC Subway)

IND Map from 1937 (NYC Subway)

BMT Map from 1912 (NYC Subway)

Under Mayor LaGuardia, on June 1, 1940, the subways were officially unified into one distinct City-owned subway. (Feinman) The unified map looked like this:

Subway map from 1948 (NYC Subway)

The map underwent a few more revisions, until Massimo Vignelli stepped in in the 60s to design a revolutionary map that featured clean lines at 45 or 90 degree angles only. His map was based on the successful London Underground map designed in 1933 by Henry Beck. However, this approach ran into some issues, notably with maintaining geographic accuracy. (Bierut) For example, Central Park is depicted as a square, when in fact is it three times as long as what is shown on the map.

Vignelli subway map from 1972. (Bierut)

This inconsistency led to the modern style of map being created and put into use in 1979 by the TA. (Beirut) To this day, as subway routes were created and retired, the map underwent changes to its routes, but the design stayed the same. A notable change occurred in 1986 when the use of double letters on route symbols and the map was eliminated, and all routes carried single letters or numbers only.

1979 redesigned subway map (Merideth)

Today's subway map

Works Cited

Baber, Merideth. "Designing the New York City Subway Map." Urban Omnibus Designing the New York City Subway Map Comments. Urban Omnibus, 8 Dec. 2010. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.

Bierut, Michael. "Mr. Vignelli's Map." Design Observer. The Design Observer Group, 28 Oct. 2004. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.

Feinman, Mark S. "History of the Independent Subway." Www.nycsubway.org. NYC Subway, 1999. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.

Heller, Steven. "For New York's Straphangers, Bluer Water and a Fatter Manhattan." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 June 2010. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.

"Subway FAQ: A Brief History of the Subway." Nycsubway.org. NYC Subway, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.