V (and W): The Final Battle

The New York City Transit System is replacing roughly 3,000 signs and 25,000 maps, which will be switched out by June 28. The changeover was required after routes were dropped (the W and V) and others were redrawn to meet a $400 million budget shortfall. The service reductions, which include bus routes, to the nation’s largest mass transit system will reportedly save $93 million a year.
The V and W train designations will be removed from the system, while decals for the rerouted M line must be added to signs and entrances at many stations.
The New York Times reported a small, vinyl, M decal may cost the agency roughly $25 to produce. A giant porcelain sign, such as “42 St — Times Square,” costs approximately $300 to make. The total cost of the new signs and maps will be roughly $800,000.
Since 1979, the subway lines have been color-coded based on the avenue they follow in Manhattan. Since the M will now run along Avenue of the Americas, it will also sport an orange logo, as do the B, D and F trains. The J and Z lines will remain brown.
The last color change occurred in 2001, when the Q train, then orange, turned yellow after being rerouted onto Broadway from Avenue of the Americas.
The subway’s signshop, located near Utica Ave., will produce the aluminum and porcelain signs. Because porcelain signs require two months to produce, temporary aluminum replacements will intervene for the first few months. A few early prototypes have already been produced, including the first orange M decals, which are taped over the circular logos from the V train.
Old signs will be donated to the city’s transit archives or sold online.
To create the signs, designers are using such old-fashioned tools as X-Acto knives, vinyl prints and screenprinting machines.
During the weekend preceding June 28, maintenance workers will tote ladders and signs to erect the signs. The whirlwind effort will hopefully avert confusion.