So there's a fella out there by the name of Eddie Jabbour of Kick Design (no link) who's trying to get the MTA to adopt his redesigned subway map of New York. He's made it easier for out of towners to see the different lines, and for everyone to tell what stops where. He's gotten that bus connection crap out of the way.

I like it a lot. There seem to be two versions, one with and one without neighborhood markings; probably the without is for a smaller version. One of Mr. Jabbour's problems with the current map is that you need a huge print to make anything out.

There's an article on this map on Newsday. Mr. Jabbour has a lot of ideas about the current map being the source of a lot of problems; these ideas I think are a bit outlandish. I think the current MTA map is quite good; but this new one is better.

The new map has not yet been released in totality, but Kick Design has shown these samples, which look quite good: A larger version of the above, downtown, and midtown (this image was corrupted when I found it, here's a cropped version).

Lastly, here are a few comments from Mr Jabbour himself, as found on SubTalk:

"There are actually 3 maps that are designed for the different information people need in different situations. The map you see here is the pocket Day / Evening map (8 5/8" x 11 1/4") small enough to really fit in a person's wallet. Unlike the current "Z" pocket map, this map has complete information for all the trains that stop at the stations. A companion map on the other side shows all the subway lines running from Midnight to 6 am. This map shows which stations you can crossover free in the opposite direction and which stations you can not, in case you miss your stop. The third map is the most comprehensive although it is only about half the size of the current transit map.

This map has all the information of the above two plus color coded neighborhoods (colored like the states are in a map of the USA) so you can see which neighborhoods the subway system travels in all 5 boroughs! (I will get a picture of this map to you as well, probably tomorrow). Unlike the pocket maps, this map also has a comprehensive grid of named streets.

One last note on all three maps. While stylized for clarity, all 3 are "station accurate" - meaning that all the stations are in relatively correct position to each other. This is unlike the famous or infamous "Vignelli" map (1972 - 1979) which distorted the positions of the stations / lines for graphic harmony. As one example, note the "L" line's path from Lorimer St. to Jefferson St. I hope this brief explanation helps. I am very interested in your suggestions and feedback once you can see more!"

I for one (son of a cartographer, graphic design student, and all that) am very excited to see what the full map looks like.

A few years ago, I was visiting the senior show of design students at Parsons, and saw that one project which must have been assigned for a class (as many students had done it) was to redesign the New York Subway map. Some were awful, some were great, but this one's actually practical. Shocking!