The fact that you can get to know the best routes does not conflict with the study showing that the tube map poses an active challenge to that process.
As Rob said,
non-insane tube maps solve a particular problem – mapping the subway in itself
Which is great, but that isn’t the problem most subway users are actually attempting to solve. And in fact the NYC abstraction is too abstract to solve the “mapping the subway” problem well, since it doesn’t show all the stops nor give you any sense of actual travel time along those routes.
I think you need to precisely define the problem you want solved. Once you have done so, an alternative map may indeed by the right answer. If all you want to know is connectivity, the abstract map may indeed be a good solution for you.
Maybe things work differently in New York, but in every mass transit system I’ve ever seen most riders have a pretty good idea of what station they’re trying to get to BEFORE they board a train. Once on board, a simplified map is the best tool for that purpose. If I’m on a crowded train I may not have the time or inclination to study a complex, geographically accurate street map just to figure out if my stop is coming up soon.
TFL have about every type of map going - in the correct places around the network - or you get all all the info from their website, or third party apps as their data feeds are open… comparing NYC to London just doesn’t work these days.
OMG. Bank was my tube stop for my first job in London. I just checked, and fortunately I was on the Northern Line anyway, so at least I wasn’t doing anything idiotic to get to that spot of town.
What an excellent example of what can go wrong with systemic maps.
As I just mentioned, I worked there and didn’t know that. Now, if I’d been coming from a different line, then yes, over time as I walked around for lunch and such I would have figured out that there were other tube stops nearby that might fit my route better. But since my stop was on the same line as my home, I never bothered noticing that the other, nearly-adjacent station (on a line I seldom used) looked to be in a very different spot on the subway map.
Nowadays, fortunately, most businesses show a mini street map on their websites on how to get to their location(s), which would indicate where the nearest subway stations actually occur.
Absolutely. In fact, once your route is planned all you need may be a linear graph of the stops on this line and indication of which stops intersect which other lines or other points of major significance, which is what Boston has over the doors in its cars. Or possibly the schematic version, which Boston displays in stations and (I think) once in each car on the non-trolley lines.
Planning the route, however, requires a map that carries the geographic information. Unless you already know it well enough that you don’t need the map at all.
I still have my “pocket” size…still quite large, relative to any normal concept of pockets, but nothing like the behemoth that sat at home in the kitchen.
London, the only city in the world where taxi drivers are extremely well trained for their vocation. Anyone who in effect memorizes the A-Z is brilliant…the fact that an entire class of people do it is astonishing.
A good taxi driver in any city is amazing. I couldn’t do it… either the mass memorization of street names (I navigate by landmark, not by label) or dealing with the customers.
