Cracking the Transit Maps

The National Public Radio has a talk show called Science Friday where the show's hosts discuss a variety of science topics and many professionals in the science and technology field take part in the discussion.  Recently, a new discussion was on the transit maps that many big metropolitan cities use every day. Residents and commuters in big cities such as London, Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, and Berkeley-San Francisco area, for instance, depend on the transit maps to get to where they need to go. Their jobs, their way home, and their way to social settings depend on the pathways that the maps show. I was in Paris in September for one week and I could not live without a transit map in my purse; the commute from the Musee Louvre to the Eiffel Tower would take close to one hour if walking is the method used to get from one point to another while taking the metro would take twenty minutes.   With traffic, the time spending walking would take much longer than the approximate time of one hour. That same goes for my time in London as well, the tube map was one of my best friend there; and because of it I was able to see many museums that London is known for.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in London propose new maps that would make the current transit maps easier for commuters. One London researcher wanted to turn the Paris metro map in a circular shape rather than the current rectangular shape that it has. An MIT researcher uses the science of the peripheral eye vision to help formulate the new maps for the intricate NYC subway map;  I could see why the NYC subway map need renovation as my time there proves how confusing the subway can get if I was only a visitor there.

However, there are millions of people who use the transit maps for over a decade in their daily life and they have no problem in the big cities.  Of course, first-time comers of a city--or any city-- will have problems with using the maps as they are not accustomed to reading them, but they will.  Our brain is wired to understand anything and it may take time for it to get there but it is possible.  Rather than using research money on making new transit maps, why not put it elsewhere that are more beneficial such as education, community events, and healthcare? When we focus more on making people's life better, whether it is through education, healthcare, and community events, the world will be a better place with smart people walking on the streets.  And with this, we do not need to simplify the transit maps or perform any other work that is unnecessary but rather, we should put more effort in other areas.  And best of all, with time, we know people are capable to tackle problems that daily life raises, even if it is as simple as reading a transit map.