Passage V

Mapping the London Underground

[1]

Soon after the London Underground subway lines were introduced in the late 1800s, a system for mapping these vicinities creeping beneath was needed so that travelers could navigate this new mode of transportation. As a result, early maps relied on a geographically accurate scale that simply superimposed the twisting subway lines over standard maps of the city streets above. [A]These maps clearly depicted the few subway lines that extended into suburban London, but they compressed and obscured the compact, heavily trafficked routes that converged directly under central London.(63)

[2]

In the 1930s, electrical engineer Harry Beck proposed a solution that would eliminate the need for geographical accuracy. He created a map that was a scaled-down linear diagram of the subway lines. More a stylistic outline of the routes besides a true-to-life sketch; it did not represent actual distances between points. [B] Beck’s map, modeled after electrical wiring diagrams, had a clean, grid-like structure having also color-coded routes. Focusing on creating the simplest possible schema to show travelers how to get from one station to another, he did away with all references to city streets above.

[3]

[1] The London Passenger Transport Board, which represented the subway lines, initially resisted Beck’s map. [2] Still, willing to try anything to rise subway ridership and therefore revenues, a limited number of copies were printed. [3] Beck’s map became a huge success.[4] Over a million copies were in circulation within six months. [5] Board members felt that not showing relative distances between stations was too radical.(71)

[4]

For most of his life, Beck continued to make small refinements to “the diagram,” as he called his map, but he retained it's basic elements. [C] His deceptively simple diagrammatic approach to mapping, remains standard in the field of information design not only in London but also around the world. From Sydney, Australia, to Chicago, Illinois, urban transit maps continue to model this to navigate the spaces below.[D]