A Platform-Centric Map of Montreal's Green Line Metro

When you embark a train on an unfamiliar subway system, there’s rarely any way of knowing precisely where on the platform you’re going to wind up. Getting off the train almost always takes extra time and steps as you look for the right staircase or elevator. Each platform is a long scroll of repeating benches, poles, and system maps; there’s often little in these cavernous spaces to give you a clear sense of orientation.

Now a clever software engineer has done some time-saving legwork to address that problem, at least for one city’s metro. Nicolas Kruchten has photographed and aligned panoramic views of every station on the westbound side of Montreal’s green line, so that riders can more easily figure out the perfect place to await a train relative to where they want to end up. By referencing how a particular feature (such as an assistance phone or an ad) on one platform lines up with the desired exit on another, riders can maximize efficiency and avoid confusion when they reach their destination.