Mighty Morphing Metro Maps – Watch Transit Maps Transform to Real-Life Geography by Max Galka, Metrocosm

Public transit maps occupy a unique place in the mapping world. Unlike most maps, which are designed to satisfy a single purpose, transit maps must strike a careful balance between readability, detail, and aesthetic design. To that end, they necessarily distort the city’s true geography (and with it, our own mental conception of the city too).

Just how distorted are the world’s metro maps? A recent series of animated graphics, created by the DIY cartographers of reddit, answers that question in mesmerizing fashion. Scroll down to see the metro maps of seven global cities transform to match their true geography.