Transit Maps of the World: The World's First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth

Useful

It's very difficult to appreciate a book of maps without fully opening the book on a flat table. Without pressing the pages apart, or bending the spine, the pages of this book began to loosen from the spine glue and come out in fat stacks within the first day. I've been able to repair it with hot glue, which hasn't lessened my enjoyment of reading this fabulous book. I just thought if it's being purchased for a child or adult with special needs, and special interests, like mine, be fully prepared for the possible frustration of reattaching ALL the pages to the spine.

As you can tell from the title, I was drawn to this book from two of my interests. This book is great! It gives samples of current and historical maps from transit systems all over the world, and it is a treat to look at. I have only two minor faults to find -- not enough to detract from the 5-star rating: 1. some of the maps are reproduced too small (I wish he had made the 1911 Brooklyn elevated map full page size, for example) or too dark (a Chicago transit map from the late 1940s is very hard to read) and 2. (very much my own personal taste) I wish he had included some historical maps from Philadelphia (he only has a current map of that city, one of my favorites).One thing that does seem a bit strange: Although it is no surprise that the author, a native of London, writes in British English, it is rather odd that he seems to find it necessary to translate the *names* of American transit companies into British English, changing "transportation" to "transport" and "railroad" to "railway." Most people would, I think, leave the official names alone!I hope the author reads this comment so he might be able to take it into account if he comes out with a revised edition -- I know this one has already been revised from the original.

For anyone interested in visual design and cartography, the book is an incredibly rich source of information, thanks to the hundreds of pictures and detailed notes on authors and time of introductions of various designs.And it is a well designed book with some very nice touches (titles in akzidenz grotesque as a tribute to the Unimark NYC metro system!). The fascination of the author with mapping transportation systems is evident in every page and his style is extremely enjoyable.Having said so, its scholarly value on visual design, way-finding and usability is questionable. To give but three examples: the network diagram of Rome, Italy, is praised as "a minor work of art" while it is actually one of the worst diagram ever conceived from the point of view of design and usability, truly an insult to Rome and to all its visitors. The 2007 metro diagram of Moscow, an all-caps monstrosity, is described as "the culmination of seventy years of innovation in map design on one of the most impressive and effective mass transit system". In presenting the Berlin map of 1990 Spierkermann's deliberate hihlighting of the - still non existing - unifying ring is not even mentioned.

Not everything you ever wanted to know about transit maps, but certainly the best primer on the subject that I've ever seen. The organization of the book is excellent, the graphics are clear and it reads very well. I have yet to find another book on the subject that has the breadth found here. It's a great book for all ages to understand the difference between maps and diagrams, graphic design techniques used for transit system maps, the evolution of transit maps over the centuries, etc. Particularly fascinating are the in depth views on some of the oldest systems in the world - the feature on the U-Bahn in Berlin is particularly fascinating, telling the story of "ghost stations" in East Berlin during communism. Did you know that NYC is the only system in the world that uses a map instead of a diagram as its system "map"? I did not, but now I do. Awesome book.

One of the best and most detailed books about the world's metro/subway systems. Compares and contrasts the different systems and shows how they are presented to the public in picture format. This book contains dozens of detailed pictures illustrating how metro systems distort their maps for the sake of clarity and also how their transit maps change in design over the decades.One challenge faced by transit map designers is how much secondary information to include, such as rivers, parks, main roads, connecting bus links, handicap accessibility, other rail lines and proximity to local landmarks. Transit Maps of the World presents these issues to us showing how individual transit map designers have to consider which information to exclude to make their maps easy to read.

"Transit maps of the world" by Mark Ovenden.This unique atlas contains at least one map of every urban "mass transit" system in the world. That includes heavy rail (subways/metros), light rail, elevated rail, monorail, and even some streetcars, trams and trolleys. Suburban/commuter rail is included only for a few large cities that have no subways.Most of the maps come from official sources. For the more important networks there are both modern and historical maps. For each city there is a broad description of the network and the metropolitan area served. But the emphasis is as much on the widely varying designs of the maps as on the transit systems that they represent. Most are diagrammatic, using straight lines rather than geographically scaled curves.

Superb. Anyone who likes maps will enjoy this. Anyone who likes trains will enjoy this. Anyone who likes both maps *and* trains will be over the moon.

There is so much to say about this book. Maps are shown for each city and it shows how the first (confusing) maps and recent (easy on the eye) maps have changed and why.Some city models look the same (like the central 'circle line' in the metro systems of London, Moscow and Tokyo).Interesting facts can be found (like New York City has the largest metro system and had 468 stations at the time this book went to press, Buenos Aires had the first metro in South America, and Cairo had the first in Africa, and who knew that Nizhniy Novgorod even had a metro?).Pictures for some of the cities show the trains and some of the marvellous stations (like the art and chandeliers of Moscow, which can only be described as palatial).Each city has information on the population, miles of track, number of stations, and the percentage of the system which is underground.I recommend this book for those interested in travel and/or transit systems. It definitely brings back memories if you have had to use some of these very maps on your travels.

As most people know,the London Underground is the first such system in the world. Early maps approximated to the actual routes of the various lines but in the early 30's London Transport's Harry Beck produced the radically new design, with its horizontal, vertical and 45 degree angle lines we are so familiar with today. As the author points out,together with the universally recognised roundel and the plain but distinctive 1916 Johnston typeface it stands as a symbol for London.Maps of all urban systems in the world are featured with a huge number of interesting facts emerging. For instance Moscow has the busiest system and St Petersburg's Avtovo station is considered by many to be the world's finest Talking of architecture I found a useful companion to be 'The Underground Stations of Leslie Green' characterised by their dark red faience tiling (Belsize Park and Russell Square for instance).Review by Ken Burnett

Ottimo libro, sia come contenuti che come impaginazione. Molto utile per i grafici, per coloro che si occupano di infografica o, banalmente, per i curiosi e appassionati della storia della segnaletica delle più note e importanti stazioni metro del mondo.Ottima ricerca iconografica da parte di Ovenden e degli altri autori del libro.Unica pecca, dopo 3 giorni dall'acquisto il libro (rilegato a brossura) mi si è letteralmemente scollato. Prima si è staccata la copertina e poi i vari fogli per cui dovrò farlo rilegare. Davvero un peccato.

The book is of high quality and the maps are sharp and clear. I love how there is info blurbs about the different transit systems. I haven’t seen any typos and the layout is well-designed. I use it as a display book on a side-table.