I find it’s most useful to have two standardized maps for each city; one that is fairly comprehensive and geographically accurate and one that just shows you how each station connects to another. Take San Francisco’s Muni system for example:
If you were trying to figure out how to get to a specific location or landmark you’d use the map on the left. But by the time you’re on a crowded train car it’s likely you just need to know how soon your stop is coming up or which station you can transfer from, which the map on the right can tell you at a glance.
