Introducing… the Shades of Gray Subway Map!

Ever since the early days of subway map making, different map designers have tried to create the ideal subway map. Some map makers have created designs that have stood up to the test of time (e.g. Harry Beck's map of the London Underground). Other systems, like New York City, have been through several redesigns, usually about once a decade (1939, 1948, 1959, 1967, 1972, 1979, 1998, 2010).

I'm introducing a new map today. More info after the break.


Starting with the 1979 map, each subway line was assigned a color based on the trunk line it operated on. It was quite simple.

BLUE: 8th Avenue
RED: 7th Avenue/Upper Broadway
YELLOW: Lower Broadway
ORANGE: 6th Avenue
GREEN: Lexington Avenue
PURPLE: Flushing
LIME: Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown
BROWN: Nassau/Centre Streets
GRAY: Canarsie
DARK GRAY: Shuttles


But then something interesting happened. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, The some cars were retrofitted to include digital display technology. Rollsigns were replaced with flip-dot and LCD displays. A sign display technology that was capable of displaying colored signs were replaced with technology that was capable of displaying two color states: on and off.

It's not like the subway wasn't without color before. Before letters and numbers on colored circles (or in a few cases, diamonds), there was one or two letters or a number, and a brief route description. The route display was coupled with a destination display. Both used white text on a black background. This information was augmented by marker lights, which were not included with any subway car since the R40.

As display technology improved, signs on subway cars remained in monochrome. The only exceptions are the tri-color interior signs cars built since 1999 (but their usefulness in displaying route color is limited to the mainline IRT routes in Manhattan) and the LCD displays in the R160 cars. However, these all have a red LED sign at the end, and monochrome LCD or LED signs on the sides.

There's also another problem that the 1979 map introduced. Color-coding the subway lines on the map has led to people, typically from out of town, calling the trunk routes by their color. This tends to irk many long time New Yorkers, who call the trunk line by their route of operation and service ("7th Avenue express"), or a specific route, or choice of routes ("the 2 or 3 train"). Referring to the subway lines by color is meaningless outside the area of Manhattan between Houston Street and 50th Street. Outside this area, routes from different trunk routes (and colors) can, and do, run on the same tracks. Up until 2010, a group of stations in Queens was served by trains of FOUR different trunk routes. If someone at Union Square was told to take "the Yellow line to Continental Avenue," the person couldn't know which train to take. The N, Q, and R are all yellow, but unless the first train to arrive is an R, the person is likely to end up in Astoria instead of Forest Hills.

With all this monochromacy in the subway system, and to promote the intended behavior of referring to the subway routes by letter or number, I am introducing what I call the "Shades of Gray" Subway Map.

Click the image below to download it.