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Mapping Local and Commuter Rail Transit in NYC: Unique Rail Transit Maps

This guide covers how to research for maps related to subways and railroads in New York City within the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal's Map Division.

About

Photograph of Subway construction, New York City NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 809887While rail transit maps are a common sight for commuters on a daily basis, certain rail transit maps were specially created:

  • For specific events
  • For specific emergencies
  • By specific graphic design companies

Please see below for recommendations on how to search for these 3 specific types of rail transit maps within the collection at NYPL's Map Division. In addition, examples are given for each type of rail transit mapping that is listed above. 

Image Source: Subway construction, New York City NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 809887

Specific Events

For major events that have occurred in New York City, companies would sometimes make rail transit maps that both advertised the event, as well as showed how to navigate the rail transit system to get to said event.

To search for rail transit maps associated with an event, you would generally use the following keyword searches in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog (make sure to checkmark Cartographic under "Format"):

  • [Name of Event] Subway
  • [Name of Event] Rail
  • [Name of Event] Lines

The World's Fair was held twice in Flushing-Meadows Corona Park in Queens: 1939-1940 and 1964-1965. Both events were major international exhibitions that showcased new technology and innovations. Maps were created to show how visitors could easily commute to the fair by using the rapid transit system. 

To find cartographic materials from both of these events, try the following searches in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog.:

Map titled How to get to the New York World's Fair, and The heart of BrooklynTo further facet your results, you can utilize the date function to limit your results to the years of the specific World's Fair that is of interest.

Please see below for a selection of World's Fair-related rail transit maps:

Image Source: How to get to the New York World's Fair, and The heart of Brooklyn / issued by the Downtown Brooklyn Association, Inc. [1939] Map Div. 23-879 

Specific Emergencies

During emergencies and disasters, certain stations are closed and service changes are implemented with the rail transit system during the recovery process. During these times, the MTA will release maps that indicate these service changes.

 To search for these types of maps, conduct the following search in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog: 

  • Author Search: Metropolitan Transportation Authority
    • Use the date function to indicate the year of the emergency
    • Checkmark Cartographic under "Format"

Map titled MTA New York City subway : subway service as of 9/17/01 / MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority.After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the MTA had to implement subway service changes during the recovery process. For instance, many of the stops along the 1 line were shut down during this period.

To access MTA maps during the aftermath of 9/11, please utilize the following search in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog:

Please see below for examples of these MTA maps that were created after 9/11:

Image Source: MTA New York City subway : subway service as of 9/17/01 / MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Map Div. 01-10246

Graphic Design Companies

The maps for rapid transit are constantly changing with updates and new visual depictions of the system. Responsible for these representations of the rapid transit system in New York City are graphic design companies.

To search for maps by graphic design companies, we recommend the following searches in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog (make sure to checkmark Cartographic under "Format"):

  • Author Search: [Last name of specific graphic designer / Name of the graphic design company]
  • [Author: Last name of specific graphic designer / Name of the graphic design company] + [Keyword: New York]
  • [Title: Name of the rail transit company] + [Date: Faceted to years that map design was in use]
  • [Author: Name of the rail transit company] + [Date: Faceted to years that map design was in use]

If you are interested in learning how the rapid transit maps have visually changed over the years, we recommend that you also review the following blog post from the New York Transit Museum: Towards a Better Way: The "Vignelli" Map at 50

In 1972, the New York Transportation Authority released a new NYC subway map that was designed by Unimark International. Commonly referred to as the "Vignelli Map" (after one of the primary designers, Massimo Vignelli), the new map was schematic in design. Rather than focusing on a geographically correct representation of the city, the new map removed topographical information and utilized straight lines rather than curved lines to represent routes. This design would be used from August 1972 to 1978.

Map titled The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Revised Map of Rapid Transit Facilities of New York City Transit Authority. [Edition of May 1977, rev.]To find maps that were created by Unimark and/or by Massimo Vignelli, please conduct the following searches in the Advanced Search function of the Online Research Catalog (make sure that Cartographic is checkmarked under "Format"):

Please see below for a selection of maps that were published during this time period where Unimark and Vignelli's map designs were in use:

Image Source: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Revised Map of Rapid Transit Facilities of New York City Transit Authority. [Edition of May 1977, rev.] Map Div. 79-3174