GIFT GUIDE: Transit Maps of the World book

If you are scrambling for gifts for your urban-obsessed friends, you should consider buying the book “Transit Maps of the World” published by Penguin Books. It is, by far, the best last minute gift you could ever get.

Author Marc Ovenden collects multiple generations of maps from New York to Seoul to Toronto. The book is broken up into six “zones,” with each zone representing a strata (Toronto finds itself in Zone 3, while Montreal lands in Zone 2). For the older networks like Paris and London, readers get to see the development of the local system and learn how some private lines were absorbed into the public ownership or how others (like Hong Kong) are operated by corporate entities. Readers also get to witness the evolution of design-centric maps and the slow demise of realistic maps that show the small bends in the line.

You can get lost in this book for hours. I often found myself flipping back and forth between different city maps — I like how some cities have based their networks on a ring subway line such as Moscow, Oslo, Bucharest and Tokyo. These maps inspired me to explore how (and where) Toronto could have a ring line and whether it would be effective.

If there is someone in your circle of friends who has a public transit fetish, this book is like the best porn in the world.