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Real-Time Trains: MTA Unveils 'Live' New York City Subway Map

'21.10.2020'

Vita Popova

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Passengers of the New York subway can now see in real time where the train they need is located. The map is updated in real time. More details about the new product told the publication Curbed.

Photo: Shutterstock

On October 20, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) presented its new digital metro map... This is the first map to use agency data streams for real-time updates.

It replaces the mass of paper advertisements that are posted at the entrance to every metro station. Passengers will now be able to follow how the trains of interest move through the system using their smartphones. You can zoom in on the map to see how the trains move. You can also click on a station to see if elevators and escalators are operating there.

The new card will replace Weekender - a fairly convenient site that does not always provide up-to-date information. The MTA now uses it to display schedule changes for Saturday and Sunday.

A new map of the New York subway was developed by the design company Work & Co. The process started about 18 months ago at the behest of Sarah Meyer, MTA's director of customer service.

Meyer started work in 2018 and immediately ran into a lack of information she needed. “I met with people to address their complaints and realized that they could not understand how our services were changing,” says Meyer. - I was really a newcomer to this organization and could not understand how services change! And I said, "I need a map."

Placing an electronic version of a paper map on the Internet - even one that was regularly updated - did not work for technical and practical reasons. The fact is that on a paper map, one color strip is used to indicate several railway lines dividing the track (4-5-6 lines, for example, all occupy one green strip), and if only one of these lines is redirected, then it cannot be selected ...

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It takes a lot more technical work for this to happen than most users might imagine. “I was told in the IT department and in a couple of other departments that what I ask for is not possible,” says Mayer. In particular, service exchange data was just beginning to become available in a way that could be easily converted into graphics. This project follows the reengineering of the information flow that debuted in MYmta, which was introduced in 2018.

Felipe Memoria of Work & Co., who led the project, said that since it was necessary to create a map for smartphones, the task seemed difficult at first. But then it became clear that this is "more a blessing than a limitation." “When you zoom out, the lines have to be thin so you won't be able to show any detail - but you also don't need those details for street navigation, since you're just looking at train routes, not landmarks,” she said.

When the project was half completed, MTA was headed by a new interim chief - Sarah Feinberg. In the same period of time, New York was swept by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the organization faced a budgetary crisis. Therefore, the new head of MTA did not delve into the process of creating a map too much. “I said the work they are doing is amazing. I told them to contact if they needed help. And she got out of their way, "- said Feinberg.

She added: "This will not be a Sarah Feinberg victory lap - it will be a Sarah Meyer and Work & Co victory lap."

Gary Hustwit, director of the movie Helvetica, about the font of the same name, has already directed a short documentary called The Map. You can view it by going to at this link.

Since Work & Co. - a technology company, it was engaged not only in creating visual effects, but also writing code. It must be reliable for the card to work flawlessly and to be trusted by passengers. Today they are more likely to use computers to test changes to a service before leaving home rather than on the road.

The moving trains on the new map perform an extremely useful visual function - they inform users about what is happening in the present time.

Another useful feature of the map is to change the background from white to black at night: at 9pm the card switches to night service and the background dims.

Screenshot: website / map.mta.info

The card is currently being tested, so it is marked with the BETA icon. This will continue until the strengths and weaknesses of the product used by passengers on the New York subway are identified.

There is no special application for the new map yet, so far it can be used in a mobile browser.

It is noteworthy that Work & Co. created a map for free. Thus, the city received an excellent product, and the design firm received practical experience to create such maps on a paid basis.

But Meyer added that it would be good if the government allocated funding for such projects in the future.

She added that she would love to create an online bus map to make public transport even more comfortable for New Yorkers.

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