New Subway Map

I rode the train yesterday and like the new subway map! At least ascetically. All the bus boxes gone (nobody uses those, right?). Soothing colors (or “recession color,” as my partner-in-victimhood said, disparagingly).

And the M train is orange and goes to Queens… Craaaazy!!!

But here’s what’s weird… the MTA has no night map.

What if you’re a tourist. Or a native New Yorker and want to get home at midnight. You look at the map. You pick a route. You transfer to the R. And then you wait for an hour before realizing your train is never going to come because it doesn’t run at night.

Now we’re blessed to be one of the two subway systems in the world (can you name the other?) to run 24/7. Seriously. There are only two subways in the world that don’t close down.

But the New York Subway ain’t great at night. It runs less frequently than the other (every 20 minutes compared to every 15). And some lines don’t run at all. That wouldn’t be a big deal except the map doesn’t tell you!

“See signs above platform or look online” is their advice. Not too useful if you’re on the damn train!

Why do we have no “owl service” map? Can’t I make one.

That was my offer I proposed to the MTA in an email.

Customer (Astoria Bike) – 06/21/2010 03:45 AM Is there an MTA subway map for night service? If so, could you please send it to me? If not, could I make one with photoshop and send it to you? Please send me a jpg (or similar) file of the map if possible.

This is their annoying response.

Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

Subject
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night map

Discussion Thread
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Response (Andrea Popp) – 06/21/2010 02:43 PM This is in response to your recent e-mail to New York City Transit requesting a night map for the subway.

We appreciate your interest in New York City Transit. Please note, we do not offer a night map for the subway or buses. For scheduling information, we recommend you view the individual line maps, available on our website: http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/index.html

We hope this information is helpful and thank you for having taken the time to contact us.

Andrea Popp
Staff Analyst II

Question Reference #100621-000008
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Product Level 1: NYC Transit Subway
Category Level 1: Information Request
Date Created: 06/21/2010 03:45 AM
Last Updated: 06/21/2010 02:43 PM
Status: Closed

So I want to make a night map. There should be one. (There would still a limbo between 10 and midnight or so.) But why is it too much to ask for a simple map of what runs between midnight at 6 AM? Or at least why won’t they let some nerd like me make one for them?