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An Animated History of the MBTA [Map]

As a creature of habit, you get on and off the same T stop every morning, likely thinking only about when you can get your first sip of Dunkin. But it’s worth pausing to think about the rich history behind your commute: When was this tunnel built? How old is this T stop? What was it originally called?

Andrew Lynch is a New York-based photographer, freelance web designer and hobby cartographer who wants to answer those questions for you. Lynch created an animated map showing the history of the MBTA, which looks at the chronological evolution of the system from station names and tunnels to now-defunct lines.

“I got the idea when I saw a simple map depicting the MBTA back in 1912, and I realized what a great idea it would be to show the system from the past, but updated the way we are used to seeing the map,” Lynch tells BostInno in an email. “Historical transit maps aren’t the stripped down modernist diagrams we see today. The MBTA map we are used to seeing didn’t come into being until 1967.”

Describing the creation process for his map, Lynch explains:

Seeing an old map modernized like this gives the reader a context. Then I just took the next logical step and created one for each year and animated it. I’ve seen similar maps made for other cities but what I’d seen wasn’t as clean as I’d like. What I did was to create a separate map for each year to give it a better continuity.

So, why this map?

What I’d like the public to get from this is a better understanding of how the T has changed and continues to change. Hating on the T is a Boston past-time because it’s seen as so rigid and politically clogged. What I hope to show is that the system is more flexible and fluid than people give it credit for. Boston was in a long depression from the 1920s until the early 60s and through the hard work of city and state leaders they were able to use transportation infrastructure as a way to turn the city around.

Lynch sums it up nicely: “Boston is far more dynamic than people give it credit for, and I hope this is one small way to depict that.”

Check out his Animated History of the MBTA map below, and for more, check out his blog.

Map via Andrew Lynch

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/04/05/an-animated-history-of-the-mbta-map/