Transit Maps of the World

Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden is a remarkable book. It includes some of the history and all of the graphic maps for all of the world's city transit systems. On the history I have read a history of the London Tube that was better, but that's not what this book is about. I am a big buff of rail transport, always try to make time to seek out all kinds of rail travel, and have ridden on quite a few of the systems described. I found myself tracking old routes I had taken in Brussels and Washington DC. And of course this is mostly about the graphical design aspects of the route maps. The sheer numbing complexity of Tokyo's map, the simplicity of London and Boston's, and the number of historical attempts to express connectedness in an easy to browse way for the newcomer. I never did figure out the Tokyo system, what you need there is some sort of underground GPS capability, would not be surprised if it existed already. Or would also help if you grew up there. Excellent book for examples of graphic instruction design and railway buffs. An easy book to scan as well.