Editing 1196: Subways
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| titletext = About one in three North American subway stops are in NYC. | | titletext = About one in three North American subway stops are in NYC. | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | + | *The xkcd page links to [http://xkcd.com/1196/large/ a much larger version], which has another text added: | |
| − | + | <blockquote style="font-style:italic"> | |
| + | For the pedantic rail enthusiasts, the definition of a subway used here is, with some caveats, "a network containing high capacity grade-separated passenger rail transit lines which run frequently, serve an urban core, and are underground or elevated for at least part of their downtown route." For the rest of you, the definition is "an underground train in a city." | ||
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| + | {{TOC}} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
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The comic shows the maps of all North American {{w|subway}} networks. In reality, none of these systems are interconnected, but in the diagram subways from different cities that have the same color on the official subway map have whimsically named connections, such as the "Ohio-California Tunnel" connecting the Green Lines of Cleveland and Los Angeles, or the "Rocky Mountain Tunnel" connecting the Blue Lines of Chicago and San Francisco. Vancouver and San Francisco are connected through a station called Richmond, which appears to double as {{w|Richmond, British Columbia}} and {{w|Richmond, California}}. The "Springfield Monorail" is fictional, from the animated series ''{{w|The Simpsons}}'' (see {{w|Marge vs. the Monorail}}), but its approximate location on this map would suggest the [http://www.seattlemonorail.com/ Seattle Monorail], or perhaps Springfield, Oregon, which [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Matt-Groening-Reveals-the-Location-of-the-Real-Springfield.html Matt Groening revealed was the inspiration for the Simpsons' hometown]. | The comic shows the maps of all North American {{w|subway}} networks. In reality, none of these systems are interconnected, but in the diagram subways from different cities that have the same color on the official subway map have whimsically named connections, such as the "Ohio-California Tunnel" connecting the Green Lines of Cleveland and Los Angeles, or the "Rocky Mountain Tunnel" connecting the Blue Lines of Chicago and San Francisco. Vancouver and San Francisco are connected through a station called Richmond, which appears to double as {{w|Richmond, British Columbia}} and {{w|Richmond, California}}. The "Springfield Monorail" is fictional, from the animated series ''{{w|The Simpsons}}'' (see {{w|Marge vs. the Monorail}}), but its approximate location on this map would suggest the [http://www.seattlemonorail.com/ Seattle Monorail], or perhaps Springfield, Oregon, which [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Matt-Groening-Reveals-the-Location-of-the-Real-Springfield.html Matt Groening revealed was the inspiration for the Simpsons' hometown]. | ||
| − | The [http://www.radicalcartography.net/subways.html Urban Mass Transit Systems of North America] map (right) created by [http://hshm.yale.edu/rankin Yale Professor Bill Rankin] on his | + | The [http://www.radicalcartography.net/subways.html Urban Mass Transit Systems of North America] map (right) created by [http://hshm.yale.edu/rankin Yale Professor Bill Rankin] on his web site [http://www.radicalcartography.net/ Radical Cartography] in 2006 presents all of the subway systems in North America at the same scale using geographic, instead of topological, layout. |
| + | |||
| + | The networks on xkcd's map are displayed with absolutely no consideration to geographic position, in order to connect like-colored routes together. While {{w|Vancouver}} is the most North-West, {{w|Mexico City}} being the most South, and San Francisco the most west, distances are not accurate (in reality, Vancouver is closer to Chicago than to Toronto for example) and cities are often arranged in the wrong direction from one another: | ||
* San Francisco is shown directly west of Toronto - in reality west southwest | * San Francisco is shown directly west of Toronto - in reality west southwest | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
| − | + | *A print version of this comic is available in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/subways xkcd store]. | |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
