Customer Reviews
Excellent map information 
2008-08-12
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 2008-07-03
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! 
2008-06-24
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 2008-06-18
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.
Love Maps and Travel?!! 2008-05-20
This book is fun for armchair travel buffs, map buffs, history lovers and those that have the cities included on their lists to visit. Great background and historic information, especially on the evolution of the system maps. I loved it!
Impressive Collection of Subway Maps Smartly Organized and with Illuminating Context 2008-04-25
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 designer’s new bible, the transport enthusiast’s dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who’s ever traveled in a city.
A treasure for those who love maps 2008-04-18
This is definitely one of those great books you'll be pulling out for years to look at. For me this book is special because I love to travel and there is something very sentimental about looking at the Metro grid of a city you've been to and used. I'm also planning to reference it for upcoming trips I take. I enjoyed seeing the progression and history of some of the maps as well. Awesome book!
Transit Maps of the World 2008-01-26
An excellent and perhaps, unique look at maps of the subway and mass transit systems of over 200 cities, large and small from around the world. The transit systems range from the large complex systems of London and New York, to the smaller basic systems of Genoa and Detroit.
The book covers both the general development of transit map as the evolved from complex geographical accurate renditions of reality to the simplified, easy to read diagram like maps in common use today. The book also looks at the evolution of a number of specific city maps, including London, Berlin, Moscow and Chicago, among others. The last section of the book covers over a hundred of the smaller transit lines, including a number of proposed systems and expansions.
This book should be of special interest to transit fans, as well as those interested in maps or graphic design.
informative and a fun read 2008-01-22
Gave this book as a gift to my cousin who is a world traveler and public transporation buff. He loved it! I ended up buying a copy for myself. Fun to read as well as a useful reference. The book is uniquely organized into 'zones' filled with colorful pictures new and old.
Beautiful Book! 2008-01-21
After seven months, Atlanta's transit people still haven't sent me their system map. This book provides me with their train system map, but not the bus system map.
Anyway, the book reads like an Edward Tufte book - old maps show the development of today's simple, readable designs.
