We’ve all been there: you’re riding the same subway, a garbled announcement comes on, and next thing you know your train is being rerouted to a different line and you’re zooming past your stop.
Well, thanks to the MTA’s new map, that will (hopefully) never happen again.
This week, the transit authority unveiled a brand new subway map that has been a year and a half in the making. Created by the MTA, the Transit Innovation Partnership and Brooklyn-based global design and technology firm Work & Co, it “overlays clear and detailed track routes atop a geographically-correct street grid that becomes more detailed as the user zooms in.”
They say that riders won’t even have to refer to the physical printed maps anymore, and can instead use the digital map for all of their navigating needs.
“With just a few taps, a time filter allows users to decide if they want to view current train service or future service with ‘Now,’ ‘Tonight’ and ‘Weekend’ options,” the organization explained. “Tonight” will show available trains after 9 p.m., so you won’t get stuck due to nighttime service changes.
Also, “When users tap on a specific station, they’ll see information that lists the trains that arrive at that station, and the arrival times for any train scheduled to arrive within an hour.” Sounds great for timing out your trip — or deciding which train route will get you to your location faster.
Some of the key features include (as written in their press release):
- Automatically updating train lines: Train lines will redraw themselves using real-time data to illustrate current and accurate train service status. Sections of train lines fade out where a train line is not running and are denoted with dashes if trains are running in a single direction.
- Zoom-In features: Greater map detail is exposed as the user zooms in, including the ability to see individual train lines, subway entrances, station names, and street locations and names.
- Subway accessibility: The new map highlights accessible stations and provides updates to accessibility related equipment like elevators and escalators.
- Emergency alerts: The map uses the MTA’s data feed to convey official MTA communications for emergencies.
- Add to homescreen for quick reference: iPhone and Android users can add the map to their homescreen to access the map more quickly. The web-based map then behaves like a standalone app. Future integration with the MYmta app may be developed.
The map is currently in its beta version and is available for both iPhone and Android users. Check it out here.
featured image source: MTA