Many transit maps for the New York City Subway have been designed since the subway's inception in 1904. Because the subway was originally built by three separate companies, an official map for all subway lines was … See more

The current official map of the subway system, based on the Tauranac redesign, incorporates a complex cartography to explain the subway's nomenclature. Different services that share a "trunk line" were assigned the same color; the trunk lines comprised all … See more

History of color coding
From 1904 to 1967, subway routes on the official subway map were drawn either in a single color or in … See more

Original maps for the privately opened Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), which opened in 1904, showed subway routes as well as elevated routes. However, IRT maps … See more

1940–56: Separate companies' maps
After the subway operating companies were taken over by the Board of Transportation in July 1940, maps continued to be … See more

In 2020, the MTA displayed several new map concepts at the 86th Street station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line following a renovation project. Six maps were displayed:
• A current version of the Vignelli map
• A … See more

This is a table of when each service has existed (and been signed for the public). Shuttles were SS until 1985, when they became S (which had been used for specials). See here for the colors used for shuttles in 1967; in 1968 all six became green, and in 1979 … See more