Transit Maps of the World | 
| Author: Mark Ovenden
Creator: Mike Ashworth
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $15.63
You Save: $9.37 (37%)
New (47) Used (11) from $10.75
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 2165
Media: Paperback
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 9.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0143112651
Dewey Decimal Number: 912
EAN: 9780143112655
ASIN: 0143112651
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Transit Maps of the World is the first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Using glorious, colorful graphics, Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare and historic maps, diagrams, and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. Transit Maps is the graphic designers new bible, the transport enthusiasts dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone whos ever traveled in a city.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
My son sleeps with it November 24, 2008
Michelle Moskowitz (Brooklyn, NY USA)
My son is almost four. I got him this book a few months ago since he is obsessed with NYC subway system. We read it almost every day, sometimes several times. I enjoy telling him which systems I've been on (he interjects, for Barcelona he said he was there when he was uno), and he likes to look at all the different trains. Lots of fun and interesting for adults who enjoy city planning.
 Excellent map information August 12, 2008
Joshua Arbury
An excellent book for cartographers and those interested in maps of transit systems around the world. Comprehensive would be an understatement, as the book truly lives up to its promise of including every transit map in the world. A bit more information on the systems themselves would have been nice, but I guess that's not what this book is about as much as the history of the maps of the systems. All in all, definitely worthwhile if you've got a passion for transit maps!
1972 NYC Subway map by Vignelli had a 1976 revision July 3, 2008
arzewski (pittsburgh, pa United States)
Got this book last night, started reading it, and when I got to the description of NYC 1972 map by Vignelli, giving it a modernistic feel of the times, was pretty excited, because I knew I own a paper map. Went looking for it, and upon reading from the book that users of the map were confused by the fact that the station of "50th St - Bdway" was positioned west of 8th avenue, went to check on my map this fact. Unfortunately, the station was positioned correctly, i.e., east of 8th Ave, and noticed that the map was slightly different from the one illustrated in the book. Then I saw the date of print on my map, 1976, and realized it must have been a revision from the earlier map in response to the users's complaints. Great book.
Dream fulfilled! June 24, 2008
Chin-Tser Huang (Columbia, SC USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book fulfills one of my top dreams -- to be more exact, I could not have dreamed of such a book! Reading maps and riding subways have been two of my favorite hobbies, and it is definitely awesome to see more than 200 cities' urban transit maps juxtaposed and compared in one book. Even better, the author gives detailed introduction to the history and includes many interesting anecdotes of those storied urban transit systems such as Berlin, Chicago, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. I use this book to remind my boy about the cities and places we ever visited, and teach him how to use a transit map to quickly find a route to any destination. We have been enjoying it so far, and I believe lots of fun will continue to flow out from it.
Fantastic book on mass transit June 18, 2008
Gregg Eldred (Avon Lake, OH USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of those books that you didn't know that you needed, much less would enjoy. But it excels on both fronts. As the title suggests, Transit Maps of the World: The World's First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth, by Mark Ovenden, is just that; As far I know, every city that has an urban train is represented in this wonderful book. Whether you are a fan of maps or mass transit, a frequent traveller, or want to know the history of some of the world's greatest (and lesser known) subway systems, this book will take you on an amazing tour of the world, by public transportation.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
How to use this book
Foreword
Introduction: Early railroads
Introduction: Urban rail transit
Introduction: Early railroad maps
Introduction: From maps to diagrams
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Appendix
As you can tell from the contents, the bulk of the book is divided into "zones," much like a real transit system. Zone 1 contains eight transit systems, dedicating about 4 pages for each. Zone 1 contains the systems with the greatest historical documentation and also are among the world's greatest urban transit systems. These include Berlin, Chicago, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. These are the "heavyweights" of the public transportation systems. Zone 2 has some of the newer systems, for example Washington DC, Seoul, Boston, and Munich. Zone 2 dedicates two pages per city. As you move through the remaining Zones (or chapters), there is less and less historical documentation and you also learn about the lesser known systems (some with only five stations). The early Zones provide you with various iterations of their route maps, culminating in the current version (as of 2007).
I have to admit that this book was fascinating. You may think that route maps (or diagrams) would be boring, but Ovenden does a remarkable job showing that these are works of art. It also helps that, by using the systems in Zone 1, you come to appreciate the problems associated with representing a large system map on small media (folder maps, in-car diagrams, and the like). With that background, it is easy to admire the current look and feel of route diagrams. This book is not meant to be used as a guide for any system, as they continually add service, but more as a snapshot into the transit systems around 2007. My only issue with the book is that some of the maps are way too small to comprehend, especially in the latter Zones. The same can be said of some of the historical maps, especially when Ovenden points out specific details. Overall, this book is a gem. It's topic is one that you probably take for granted but it is given its full due in this book. It is a fun, educational, and interesting look at transit maps worthy of anyone that has even a passing interest in maps, diagrams, travel, or urban transit.
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