Global Transit: How does your city measure up?

Hayley Richardson | Mon, Nov 5th, 2007 | Category: Reviews | Tags: hayley richardson, kevin lynch, mark ovendon, kuala lumpur, global transit, transit maps of the world, image of the city

Since 2007 has unofficially become the year of mass transit, with cities like Seattle, Austin and Beijing whispering of their plans for subway systems, its only fitting that Penguin would publish, Transit Maps of the World: the World’s First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth.

This guide includes historic and up-to-date maps of over a hundred stations around the globe, accompanied with blurbs written by a rail-loving Brit named Mark Ovendon. It’s also sprinkled with pictures of actual subway stops in their respective locations, (who knew how beautiful the stations were in Moscow?) and an unabashed use of exclamation points (only Brits can get away with that in these cynical times!). The book also includes the branding that evolved with the transit system, which have come to be inextricably associated with the cities themselves.

The maps are organized into zones based on their historical relevance, with the venerable systems like New York and London receiving first zone treatment, while newer/ smaller systems like Cairo are tucked further in the folds.

Its a book that’s cerain to inspire lust; one will surely ask themselves why they aren’t currently in Kuala Lumpur, and it makes it easy to laud San Francisco for their exhaustive system, and admonish Bangkok for not getting their act together sooner. The book, of course, is non-partisan, and states that it makes no attempt to differentiate between the quality of mass transit worldwide.

It’s interesting to think about how subway maps have a way of substituting themselves into people’s minds as mental maps of the city. This reminds me of Kevin Lynch’s great book, Image of the City, in which people are asked to draw their mental map of Boston, with highly varying results that illuminate how people piece together their urban wayfaring.

It’s quite fascinating to chart the evolution of the rails, and the topic certainly merits further study, especially to see the sort of cultural norms and values were transmitted through branding and design. One thing to note is that 80 percent of the world travels by bus, but I doubt if bus routes of the world would receive such treatment.

The book, extensive as it is, does not include links to the system’s websites, and the conversation lamentably stops there. The urban planner in me immediately wants to know more; what were the power struggles involved in the construction of these various projects? Why did Moscow consider transit such a priority, while Stockholm has yet to develop such a network? Who was left out then, and who continues to be denied access to proper transit?

All in all, its a unabashedly unproblematic, colorful and appreciative survey of global urban transit.  A point of insertion, certainly, but any good urbanist would demand the rest of the story.

FYI: The book references Philadelphia’s “beguiling mixture” of mass rapid transit. To me, there’s nothing beguiling about trolleys that don’t come, and stops that are indefinitely closed. But maybe I ask for too much.

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