Originally Posted by
BearX220
Fascinating debate. I love both systems. The Tube is blessed with the best transit wayfinding / mapping scheme in the world, so much so that many other systems (not NYC though) have ripped off Mr. Dent's famous map. In most minds the London Underground map now supersedes actual London cartography. Dent was the first transit mapmaker to realize that the actual placement of the lines doesn't matter to those using the system -- only the sequence of stations and destination matter -- also, it doesn't matter where the stations are in relation to the actual streetscape -- only in relation to each other.
I agree with every word - except for that his name was Beck, not Dent.
Originally Posted by
BearX220
Ergo the Tube map is a model of clarity while the NYC subway map looks like a spilled bowl of pasta, no matter how people try to revise / reimagine it... especially the Lower Manhattan / Brooklyn over to DeKalb Ave. or so part. And I agree in-system signage in NY is often cryptic, challenging for strangers.
Yes, this is because the layout of the NY subway is not conducive to logical layout; since almost all lines go through Manhattan, they all have to bunch up somewhere.