From day-glow posters to silk dresses, New Yorkers have been simultaneously celebrating and mourning Massimo Vignelli’s iconic subway map, which reigned over those ever-so-gritty stations (ah, nostalgia) from 1972 to 1979, before the M.T.A. switched to the the geographically boring maps we have today. Now, Mr. Vignelli’s maps are back, and they are more useful than ever.
The M.T.A. has revived the maps for a new web feature known as the Weekender. It just went live on their site, as it will starting every Friday afternoon. The reason the Vignelli map works so well is because it shows every line—one of its greatest strengths and an ongoing absence many designers lament as confusing to neophyte subway users.
“With The Weekender, we are presenting weekend service diversion information in a visual way and an interactive way for the first time,” Paul J. Fleuranges, Senior Director of Corporate and Internal Communications, said on the agency’s site. “We’re very excited to introduce this new feature for our customers today, but we also know it’s going to evolve over time.” So send in that feedback!
On The Weekender, it shows you every line and station in the city and its status. There are blinking lights that are a little confusing, but otherwise, this should make that weekend commute if not faster at least a little more clear.
The map is currently lit up like a Christmas tree, so it should be fun getting around all weekend. Now if only there was a way to get around all that track work.
