Man Who Created His Own Version of Subway Map Has Dispute with MTA

"It's quite complicated," said Sebastian Gutmann, a tourist. "Because you see so many street names, so many station names, and you have to figure out where you are.

It wasn't much help to Jake Berman when he first moved to New York from San Francisco 12 years ago. So he decided to make his own version.

But when he began selling his creation, the MTA threatened legal action, and got the website Etsy to temporarily take it down.

"It’s something that you don't expect to get," he said. "And I'm surprised quite frankly that the MTA is even concerning itself with this.

The MTA called Berman's work derivative of its weekend service map, which is based on the agency's iconic 1972 map design.

Berman says his map was the result of inspiration from a weekend trip that went awry, and not intellectual property theft. He planned to take the B train from Manhattan to Brooklyn, but the map failed to indicate that the line does not operate on Saturdays and Sundays.

"I waited like an idiot on the platform for half an hour, wondering, 'Where is my train?'" he said.

Berman's vision features symbols for stations where trains stop on nights or weekends only, and lines correspond with streets.

"I designed it because I thought there were flaws in the existing subway map," he said.

"To take it upon yourself to design a subway map is almost a loony undertaking. But I'm probably one of the leaders of the looney tunes," Tauranac said.

But he's no fan of the MTA's current map. Like Berman, Tauranac makes and sells his own.

"Many aspects of today's MTA map are muddy, to be kind. A mess, to be honest," he said.

"The MTA is gonna try to protect its property. I think, however, to step on somebody's toes in that nature is short-sighted," Tauranac said.

On Friday, the MTA dropped its legal challenge. While the Berman's map and the MTA's both show the system's lines, Berman's does not use the MTA's distinctive route symbols.

Berman says his map will again be sold on Etsy. He's invited the MTA to be a customer.

Well I took the 7 train from Queens to Manhattan last month and it looked exactly the same,maybe they are new but I sure as hell didn’t see anything different.

I take the 7 pretty often, but only from Times Sq to Grand Central. The 7 line used to terminate at Times Sq but has been extended now since 2015 to Hudson Yards. I really don't pay that much attention to the cars but I'm pretty sure that most aren't 40 years old.

About the 7 line, Wikipedis says (in part):

Early 21st century upgrades[edit]
Automation of the line[edit]
In January 2012, the MTA selected Thales for a $343 million contract to set up a communications-based train control (CBTC) system as part of the plan to automate the line. This was the second installation of CBTC, following a successful implementation on the BMT Canarsie Line. The total cost was $550 million for the signals and other trackside infrastructure, and $613.7 million for CBTC-compliant rolling stock.[64] The safety assessment at system level was performed using the formal method Event-B.[81]
The MTA chose the Flushing Line for the next implementation of CBTC because it is also a self-contained line with no direct connections to other subway lines currently in use. Funding was allocated in the 2010–2014 capital budget for CBTC installation on the Flushing Line, with scheduled installation completion in 2016.[11] The R188 cars were ordered so the line would have compatible rolling stock. CBTC on the line will allow the 7 and <7> services to run 7% more service, or 2 more trains per hour (tph) during peak hours (before retrofit, it ran 27 tph).[82] However, the system had been retrofitted to operate at 33 tph even without CBTC.[64][83]
The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013.[84][85] Test runs of R188s in automated mode started in late 2014.[64] However, the CBTC retrofit date was later pushed back to 2017[86] or 2018[87] after a series of problems that workers encountered during installation, including problems with the R188s.[86][87] The project also went over budget, costing $405 million for a plan originally marked at $265.6 million.[86] The whole line was cutover to CBTC operation on November 26, 2018, with the completion of the segment from Hudson Yards to the north of Grand Central.[88]

ML/NJ

I started riding NYC subways in 1970. Continued doing so workdays through the 1990s.

A lot changed during that time. All the older cars were retired or refurbished. The interiors of nearly every subway station were redone, with paint and/or new surface materials. Elevator access has been added to tons of stations, as have escalators in places that previously had only stares. The electric signalling system of the whole network has been redone. Your rarely see the grafitti you used to see covering the inside and outside of so many cars and many stations.

But no, they have not gutted the system’s steel structural support framework and totally rebuilt it in a style it would be built today. And, for the cost of it neither would you.

The price increases since 1947 have not even kept up with inflation. If they had the fare today would be $4.00.

The MTA is a bloated agency, lots of corruption and lots of waste, caused in part by the tons of political manipulation-pressure put on it to do what the politicians want.

But your ideas that nothing has changed and the fare is too much are both wrong.

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