Category: Accessible Transit

Accessible Transit – NYC Subway Hurricane Sandy Service

With the extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy on the Northeast it is unsurprising that the New York Subway has been especially hard hit. Many of the underground river crossings were fully flooded, but luckily most of the rolling stock has been spared and all of the large capital projects (East Side Access, 7th Line extension, and the Second Avenue Subway) have received little to no damage.

What hasn’t been spared are people’s commute – which has been brutal due to the lack of power below 34th Street. This means that even if all cross river tunnels were dry and open for operation there would be no service due to power loss. Below is the Accessible Transit map for the New York City Subway during partial shutdown. This is the sixth installment of my Accessible Transit Map series – an unofficial map, not sanctioned by the MTA or NYCTA. As in previous maps, I have removed all stations which are not handicapped accessible.

Maps represent corporeal objects, through convenient fictions; a representation which works for a majority of its users. But where are the maps for the disabled or those require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

Midtown Detail

Overall Map

You may download the Accessible Transit NYC Subway Hurricane Sandy Service map here:

Other Accessible Transit Maps for your perusal:

Accessible Transit: Paris Metro

This is the fifth installment of my Accessible Transit Map series. Intended as a replacement map for those with disabilities, this map illustrates which station stops on the Paris Metro are accessible for those with strollers or with a disability. As you can see below, very few stations are accesible in the City of Light:

Opened in 1900, network’s sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km (133 mi) in length with 301 stations, of which 62 are interchange stations. Just 50 Metro/RER stations within central Paris have elevators and are accessible for wheelchairs or for strollers. Just like London’s Underground the Metro was largely built when accessibility wasn’t a concern; unfortunately the RATP doesn’t match Transport for London’s excellent Accessibility guidelines, offering only a page of platitudes:

Accessibility for persons with reduced mobility. It is the RATP’s ambition to provide every traveller with a transport system suited to his needs from end to end.

As in previous maps, I have removed all stations which are not handicapped accessible. Maps represent corporeal objects, through convenient fictions – a representation which works for a majority of its users. But where are the maps for the disabled or those require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

You may download the Accessible Transit Paris Metro map here:

Other Accessible Transit Maps for your perusal:

Accessible Transit: London Overground

This is the fourth installment of my Accessible Transit Map series. Intended as a replacement map for those with disabilities, this map illustrates which station stops on the Transport for London London Overground system is accessible for those with strollers or with a disability.

London Overground, a suburban rail network in the United Kingdom, is part of the National Rail network linking 20 of London’s 32 boroughs. Starting in 2007 Transport for London consolidated different existing rail concessions and extended new trackage to form the London Overground.

As in previous maps, I have removed all stations which are not handicapped accessible. Maps represent corporeal objects, through convenient fictions – a representation which works for a majority of its users. But where are the maps for the disabled or those require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

You can download the London Overground Accessible Transit map below – which comes in two versions – Network and Geographic:

Other Accessible Transit Maps for your perusal:

Accessible Transit Massimo Vignelli NYC Subway Map Edition

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_01

This is the third installment of my Accessible Transit Map series. Intended as a replacement map for those with disabilities, this map illustrates which station stops on the New York City Transit Authority’s system is accessible for those with strollers or with a disability.

This map is special: it is the updated system map by Massimo Vignelli, a design which is beautiful but which I have been a vocal critic of. For those who don’t know about Vignell’s 1972 map, read Michael Bierut’s history, Mr. Vignelli’s Map which is very well written.

As in previous maps, I have removed all stations which are not handicapped accessible. Maps represent corporeal objects, through convenient fictions; a representation which works for a majority of its users. But where are the maps for the disabled or those require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

Here are details of the map:

Midtown Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_02

Brooklyn Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_03

Coney Island Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_04

From the three details shown above the system map gradually becomes more beautiful as you strip information away; as more and more stations are removed, the system becomes more diagrammatic and pure. This is the issue I have with Vignelli’s original, and update map: the subway is not an abstract diagram, no matter that the designer wishes it to be. No matter that Vignelli has created a masterpiece of design, the system will never be forced into the visual language that London’s Underground uses so successfully. As so it will be: the historical traces of over one hundred years of service, created by three different companies, will continue to bleed through time into today’s maps.

Feel free to download the map in pdf format: Accessible Transit Massimo Vignelli NYC Subway Map Edition.

Other Accessible Transit Maps for your perusal:

Please see also:

Accessible Transit – New York City Subway – Update

NYC-subwaymap-detail

My Accessible Transit – New York City Subway article has been found again and there are some general questions about the methodology. This map was created based on data I collected from the MTA’s website based on accessible stations as of Quarter 3 of 2007. As update occur based on the elevators coming in an out of service, I’ll update the map.
But the basic fact of the matter is that for those with accessibility issues, the NYC Subway is a huge barrier.
As per requests, here is a Accessible Transit – New York City Subway PDF version (1.1 mb pdf).

Accessible Transit – New York City Subway

For most of us just getting around the major subway systems of the world is difficult enough. What would a transit system look like if you were disabled or in a wheelchair?

NYC-subwaymap-detail

This is my second installment of my Accessible Transit Map series. Intended as a replacement map for those with disabilities, this map illustrates which station stops on the New York City Transit Authority’s system is accessible for those with strollers or with a disability. This is a companion map to my Accessible Transit – London Underground issued last year.

NYC-subway-small

You can see that there is a great number of the 422 stations along the 656 miles of revenue track. Here is a List of New York City Subway Stations, where you can sort by accessibility.
Update – 20 April 2008
This article has been found again and there are some general questions about the methodology. This map was created based on data I collected from the MTA’s website based on accessible stations as of Quarter 3 of 2007. As update occur based on the elevators coming in an out of service, I’ll update the map.
But the basic fact of the matter is that for those with accessibility issues, the NYC Subway is a huge barrier.
As per requests, here is a Accessible Transit – New York City Subway PDF version (1.1 mb pdf).
For other mapping product, please see:

Accessible Transit – London Underground

For most of us just getting around the major subway systems of the world is difficult enough. What would a transit system look like if you were disabled or in a wheelchair? I became very curious in this and started to collect maps of different transit systems around the world.

London-Underground-detail

Accessible Transit – London Underground Detail

And then it occurred to me: if maps virtually represent life, through convenient fictions, then why are there no maps for those who are disabled or require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

My first Accessible Transit Map was the London Underground map, which can be downloaded in the following versions:

As you can see from the detail below, those of you needing better accessibility have limited options; the DLR and the Jubilee Line are your best choices.

London-Underground-small

I realize that Transport for London has been making great strides in retrofitting many stations in order to comply with DDA requirements. TfL is doing what they can with hundreds of years old infrastructure and have an extensive transport accessibility system including Dial-a-Ride, which will pick up a disabled person and transport them. They are installing tactile warning surfaces on stairs and at the platform edge, and I’ve noticed the staff is generally helpful to those with disabilities.

But all of this doesn’t change the fact that maps have an intrinsic reality; a reality which those of us with proper ambulatory functions take for granted. Of course Transport for London won’t issue this map as an official Underground map because the map looks really, really bad (not to mention this would be really confusing for the Yank tourists). Not even half of the system’s tube stations – I count 82 out of 275 stations – are accessible.

Lest my reader believes I am picking on the fair city of London, be still. The New York City Subway maps is coming soon; it took longer because the graphics file is horrendously large and difficult to work with.