The All Red Map

By the late 1970's the TA and MTA were not happy with the multi-color maps that had been in use since the opening of Chrystie Street. A committee was formed with graphic aritst, employees and transit advocates and given the task of redesigning the map. I was asked to join the forum as a representative of the VP of Rapid Transit.

One intermediate version had all the subway lines shown in red and used the color bullets for each service, as had been put into place in 1967. While this map had the advantage of being more geographically correct, it still had some problems.

The map below is from a scan of that map, done in six sections. Click on each section to display the larger version of that part. Use the BACK button on the display page to return to this page.





The main part of the map that I worked on was the service guide. Because of the confusion between what is an express vs. local, I devised the by borough/by time of day table that was on the post 1979 editions of the map. I believe this format was used into the 1990's versions of the map. These scans are from the 1979 version.



For my efforts on this project, I received a letter from Chairman Ravitch.

John Tauranac, Chaiman of the Map Committee writes in his blog about an error he and the committee missed near Central Park West that has been perpetuated on TA maps since.