If there’s one word to describe New York City’s subway system, it’s unpredictable (at least, that’s how PG describes the New York MTA) Horrible inconsistency). New York City’s subway trains, the heartbeat of the city, often suffer from clogged arteries. Given all this, I can’t stop thinking about the beauty of analog MRT board, a $229 lighting infrastructure infographic designed by a small team of Los Angeles-based artists. This is probably the most aesthetically pleasing way to let me know if I messed up my morning commute.
Metroboard is the Christmas tree of metropolitan infrastructure, like a switchboard that you can hang on the wall or stand upright on a table. It includes various lines and stations on traditional subway maps in several major cities in the United States. As the day ends, you’ll see those lights slowly turn off at night. During rush hour, the subway panels glow like a kaleidoscope of lights and workers rush to their offices to pray to the MTA gods that a tree doesn’t fall on the tracks ahead (it does happen) more often than you think).
It’s powered by a USB-C cable, and you’ll need to connect it to your home internet to receive live updates from various city transportation departments. Design Rules Company, a small studio, will soon release maps of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston and the Bay Area.
It is a walnut frame with an all-aluminum surface and holes for mounting various LED lights. Once you connect it to your home WiFi, it’s a fairly hands-off design, although you can still control whether the LEDs display color or solid white. You can also configure the brightness of the lights and even whether you want to see trains in transit or just at the station.
Artists Kirill Safin and Emily Perkins lead the design team. The two told fast company The art was inspired by a cross-country train trip that took them through the subway systems of six cities. The concept is to show these cities as a “truly living organism” where each light is not just a train but represents tens or hundreds of thousands of commuters sitting shoulder to shoulder day in and day out. In these cars.
Barring any delays, Design Rules Company expects to launch Metroboard in September this year. Those who pre-order for $3 should get an $80 discount on their first order, the team wrote. The pre-order price is $189 and will retail for $229 upon release.
The team told Fast Company they hope to expand to non-U.S. train systems, such as the London Underground. I personally would love to see an interpretation of Tokyo’s complex yet efficient subway system. Maybe I can view it with the same amount of envy and reverence after my MTA app gave me a rundown of how every train I needed to take was delayed — and not for the first time this month.
