LCD screens have been set up on the L subway line in New York City which display the exact location of trains on the line, so travelers can better understand how long the wait will be.
Read more...October 30, 2009
October 28, 2009
Chicago CTA x Apple: Subsidized Subways
The city of Chicago is reportedly in talks with Apple to sponsor the renovation and improvement of its North and Clybourn Station. If successful, the city would net four million dollars from the deal, while Apple would maintain primary advertising rights to the station.
Read more...March 31, 2009
Pic: Personalizing the MTA’s Service Cuts
The MTA is the nation’s largest public transportation agency, serving an estimated 8.5 million people daily, making it an integral part of life for a diverse group of riders from every imaginable socio-economic background. This reality creates an interesting dynamic between commuters who share proximity while waiting at the same bus stop or standing at the same spot on the subway platform at the same time every day. They may not know one another exactly, but a connection exists beyond the level of stranger, regardless of whether smiles, waves or head nods are exchanged.
Miranda Purves began to realize these unique relationships [...]
March 19, 2009
Improv Everywhere: Subway Art Opening
Improv Evertwhere has posted the details of their fantastic “Art gallery on a subway platform” prank that they put on last October. The public performance group took over a subway station on 23rd street in New York City, and transformed it into a temporary art gallery. They added descriptive placards to existing objects in the station – garbage cans, ads, telephones, drain grates, and walls were all declared “art”, with accompanying detailed descriptions. They also set up a bar, coat check and even had a cellist playing background music. Agents of Improv Everywhere attended the “opening”, dressed up and in [...]
Read more...February 24, 2009
Poster Boy & Aakash Nihalani Remix the MoMA Collection
Yesterday morning, on the way to the office, we noticed something was pleasantly different about the Museum of Modern Art’s temporary display inside the Atlantic Avenue subway station. It seems (from the looks of the artwork) that Poster Boy and Aakash Nihalani had worked their magic overnight, and transformed several of the MoMA’s art reproductions into new pieces. Classic works of art were remixed with samples from advertising and cut-outs of other pieces. Aakash Nihalani also spruced up the MoMA’s advertisements and added some nice colored tape boxes in strategic spots around the station.
Unfortunately, as of last night most of [...]
February 3, 2009
Pierre Siedel’s Beijing Subway Photography
Anyone who has ridden the subway during rush hour in China knows how chaotic and overwhelming it can be as an individual commuter. Shuandjoe point us to the photography of Pierre Siedel, whose recent work “Still / Moving” captures people stopped in the middle of the Beijing subway commute.
Pierre Siedel explains the concept behind “Still / Moving”:
Being isolated from the rushing crowd, one feels alienated, lonely, detached even abandoned. In this artificial universe, the underground transit bubble stirs the mind to a kind of self-reflection. I thought it would be interesting to explore through photography such absurd places like the [...]
Read more...January 23, 2009
While You Were Sleeping
Overworked and weary subway riders take note, your furtive attempts to catch some Z’s during your daily commute just might make you famous or infamous as the case may be, thanks to the public photography project Asleep On The Subway. The website aims to build a community around the universal need for sleep and the lengths some people will go to get some. Judging from the early offerings, some people are more successful in their head nodding efforts than others, but all share the common quest for a little extra shut eye that is extremely relatable. Though we don’t expect [...]
Read more...December 23, 2008
Re-Imagining the NYC Subway Map
A group of Korean graphic designers called Zero Per Zero have a unique take on the typical subway map of New York City. Playing on the I Love New York logo, the entire system is visualized as a big heart. The final design was the 2008 Design For Asia Grand Award Winner for a City Railway System which seems a bit odd considering it’s a remake of an American system, but we certainly applaud the simplicity and beauty of their artistic vision.
This playful design actually functions as the map it remixes and on closer inspection, it includes pictorial representations of remarkable locations [...]




