Buzz
Getting around major cities using public transit can be a challenging endeavor, even for locals. With numerous bus and train choices, varying local and express routes, and frequent service disruptions, even simple trips can become surprisingly complex. But which city boasts the most confusing public transportation maps globally?
A team of theoretical physicists and mathematicians has identified New York City as the leader in this perplexing category. Their research, aptly named “Lost in Transportation,” conducted by experts from CEA-Saclay in France and the University of Oxford, examined transit maps across 15 global cities. The study revealed that humans typically struggle to process more than 250 connections. However, when New York’s bus and subway maps were combined, the connections soared to 8,461, far surpassing the cognitive limit, as reported by City Lab.
Among the 15 cities studied, Paris, Tokyo, and London also featured highly intricate transit systems. In contrast, Beijing and Hong Kong were found to have the most user-friendly and navigable maps.
According to City Lab, the study aimed to assess how future travelers will increasingly rely on digital navigation tools over traditional maps. As urban areas grow and transit systems grow more complex, physical maps are becoming less practical. While residents often master the routes they use daily, such as their commute to work, researchers argue that traditional transit maps are losing their effectiveness for unfamiliar journeys.
The researchers state in their paper, 'Our findings emphasize the overwhelming amount of information humans must process for urban navigation. Redesigning transit maps and enhancing digital tools to simplify information below the human cognitive limit is essential for optimizing the use of transportation services.'
