New York City Installs Pedestrian Maps (Finally)

New York is introducing wayfinding map kiosks throughout the city, a godsend for anyone who has ever emerged from a subway exit disoriented (don’t be ashamed, that’s pretty much everyone who has set foot in the city). The maps are not only helpful, but also match the graphic language established in the 1960s for the subway system, as Michael Bierut from design team Pentagram explains to Wired:

“All of this was deliberately echoing the way the subways look… We wanted people to be able to ride the subway, come out and orient themselves.”

The new monolith-style kiosks display two maps, a zoomed-in glimpse of what’s within a five-minute radius, and an overview of the location in relation to a larger patch of the city. The first kiosk was installed last week in Chinatown, with more to follow soon. In a city where an estimated 30 percent of all trips are made by foot, we can’t be the only ones excited this subway improvement is here. With the recent addition of free solar-powered cellphone charging stations, the city seems to be getting more tourist-friendly every day.