New Jersey Transit – THE VISUAL TIMETABLE AND ROUTE MAP 1986

Description

This 25-page document from mid-1986 presents a groundbreaking visual timetable and route map concept for NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex Lines, developed by renowned data visualization expert Professor Edward Tufte of Yale University. Breaking from traditional text-based schedules, this innovative design uses detailed aerial photographs as route maps, allowing riders to easily locate their homes and workplaces, personalizing their travel information. The schedules are presented graphically as time-charts, making train frequencies and complex service patterns immediately comprehensible at a glance. Hailed as the “first major change in timetable design this century” and the inaugural public use of such visual timetables and photograph-maps, this highly significant and trustworthy work aimed to transform dense transit data into an engaging and user-friendly experience, demonstrating a pioneering approach to information design.