Seeing public transport maps in a new light

Anyone who has taken a ride on the London Underground will know the map plays it a little fast and loose with the facts. Paddington appears to be in two places at once, Bank is not, in fact, that close to Monument, and the River Thames does not flow in a series of straight lines.

Pulling together 270 stations, over 11 separate lines that sit across eight different zones, is no simple task. But unless you are Londoner yourself, you’re unlikely to know that if the Piccadilly Line is down, Covent Garden is just around the corner from Holborn or across the road from Leicester Square. Or, if you are stuck in Liverpool Street, that Moorgate is within walking distance.

This summer thousands of people are due to descend upon London, with many reliant on the Tube network to travel around the capital. A lot of London residents fear that the already busy Tube network may struggle to cope with the added passengers. What would be useful is a geographically accurate map that plots the exact location of stations, showing newcomers to the city precisely what is what and where it is possible to avoid the tube. These actually exist in many forms but London’s transport chiefs clearly prefer the schematic approach, no matter how far abstracted from geographical reality, so they are typically only discovered by map geeks.

We think that’s a shame so on maps.nokia.com users are able to activate a transport layer to view a geographically accurate map of the transport network in over 500 cities across the world. Not only will this help customers to seek alternative routes when there are delays, but it will also encourage visitors to take to the streets and view more of the incredible city that exists above ground. Why spend 15 minutes on a busy, sweaty Tube carriage when you could take a little longer and visit Trafalgar Square on the way?

We understand that most of the time people want to get from A to B as quickly as possible, which is why they can plan effectively their journey on maps.nokia.com. But we also want to show people how they can get the most out of their journey, wherever they are. And of course we’d love all feedback.