Direct map link: https://www.mta.info/map/5256

The map of the Montreal metro (which is in fairness _way_ smaller) that you are most likely to see is also diagrammatic [0], but every station has a much more detailed geographic map, which includes bus stops etc... [1]

I think having both around is a good balance.

[0] https://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/media/Stminfo/image...

[1] https://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/media/Stminfo/image...

Maps are to be read. If you want a subway map to frame for your apartment, then the current/old one looks nice, but the new one is just easier to read - particularly in a moving subway car, through a dirty pane, and from 3 feet away. Especially in the age of smartphones, if you're doing navigation on a train (or station) you likely don't have a phone or are already lost, the map should be optimized to be easy to read in either scenario.

Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/nyregion/nyc-new-subway-m...

The map still amusingly mostly pretends that New Jersey and transit running into New Jersey doesn’t exist. For example, the PATH is very faintly represented but yet the JFK AirTrain (which isn’t part of the subway and the airport isn’t run by the MTA) is given more prominent status. PATH is owned by the same entity (PANYNJ) that owns the AirTrain but is nearly hidden on the map because it goes to New Jersey.

Back when the SuperBowl was in NYC there was a full transmit map produced that acknowledged and displayed the existence of New Jersey and its transit into and out of NYC. After the Super Bowl the MTA quickly took it down and New Jersey was returned to its former “we’re gonna pretend like you don’t exist” map.

No skin in the game. Looking at the old one https://www.mta.info/map/36946 vs. the new one https://www.mta.info/map/5256, and not being a New Yorker, I would prefer the old map as it allows me to appreciate the distances and contextualize more.

But I can see a New Yorker preferring the new map to get just the subway lines and connections.

Mini Metro (https://dinopoloclub.com/games/mini-metro/), one of my favorite pastime games, apes this style by having you design (and revise) a subway map to service an increasingly complex and rapidly growing cityscape.

I can see the advantages of both styles. Scale and proximity are very important to people traveling to destinations they don't usually travel to (often tourists), but the schematic nature of this new map definitely makes it easier to tell how the system interconnects.

It would be great if, in addition to providing realtime bus and train info, the MTA provided realtime station info so third parties could create maps in any style that were guaranteed to be correct because they would pull from live station data.

Ugh. Every few decades some new MTA honcho decides to switch to a schematic map, and it's either shot down before launch or lasts a few years before people realize you can't actually find your way to any real-world aboveground location on it unless you already know the nearest station. Maybe now that everyone can get transit directions on their phone it doesn't matter anymore and can just be a pretty decoration.

> the revisions to the map are more than cosmetic, said Shanifah Rieara, the authority’s chief customer officer. Two of the biggest alterations address complaints about the legibility of transfer points at some of the busiest hubs, as well as efforts to make the map feel “inclusive for all,” with clearer depictions of accessibility features

Cool, Accessibility features always improve the user experience.

That might work for other metros, but the New York Subway is the New York Subway. It is how it is. The old style of map works within New York culture for a variety of complicated reasons that nobody fully understands, but we all know it's how it's supposed to be.

hahaha, Delancey-Essex is now waterfront property!

Yea I don't get the point of this. Someone convinced someone that the old one was bad and they need to spend $ on a new one? I personally prefer the old one because it gives you a better idea of how far things are.

Obligatory: https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_index/docs/NYC_full_track...

Detailed track/junction map. (Not my own content).

Looks much better. The current map is a nightmare for readability, especially when you're squinting from a distance trying to read it inside a subway vehicle without encroaching on the personal space of someone sitting below it. For actual locations in relation to other points of interest, consult a general-purpose map, there are more options for that than there are readable and up-to-date alternative renderings of public transit network maps.

Title: The Retro Subway Map That Design Nerds Love Makes a Comeback

No paywall press release:

https://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-unveils-first-fully-r...

The maps:

https://www.mta.info/maps

Not sure how removing geographic information was supposed to increase clarity.