Friday Eye Candy: Subway-Style Maps That Explain Everything

Ok maybe not everything, everything—but the recognizable tropes of subway maps do make it easier to explain everything from the development of cities to musical styles to interstellar scale.

1 minute read

March 27, 2015, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Phil Edwards shares a fun and enlightening list of maps that apply the design tropes of subway maps such as the New York MTA's to everything but the subway. It turns out that the color and spatial coding of subway maps is helpful in providing access to many large and complex subjects.

So for instance, maps of all of the national parks in the United States and the travel routes of the world's largest passenger plan make a lot more sense with the help of subway map-style. Other maps make sense of spatial concepts that might never make sense to mere mortals without the help of subway map-style, such as a map showing the thrust necessary to travel between planets in our solar system, a map of the body's inter-related systems, or a map of the Milky Way Galaxy system—of which, for some perspective, our solar system is only a small stop on a tangential line that leads to the Orion Nebula.

My personal favorite is the map that plots cities as subway stops along the routes provided by North America's rivers.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 in Vox

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Aerial view of downtown San Antonio, Texas at night with rotating Tower of the Americas in foreground.

San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion

The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.

July 3, 2025 - Governing

White park shuttles with large Zion logo on side and red rock cliffs in background in Zion National Park.

Since Zion's Shuttles Went Electric “The Smog is Gone”

Visitors to Zion National Park can enjoy the canyon via the nation’s first fully electric park shuttle system.

1 hour ago - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Chart of federal transportation funding comparing Biden and Trump administration spending.

Trump Distributing DOT Safety Funds at 1/10 Rate of Biden

Funds for Safe Streets and other transportation safety and equity programs are being held up by administrative reviews and conflicts with the Trump administration’s priorities.

2 hours ago - Transportation for America

Close-up on yellow and black TAXI sign on top of beige car in central Munich, Germany.

German Cities Subsidize Taxis for Women Amid Wave of Violence

Free or low-cost taxi rides can help women navigate cities more safely, but critics say the programs don't address the root causes of violence against women.

3 hours ago - Bloomberg