A First Look At The New Metro Map
Metro is rolling out a new version of its iconic Metrorail map today ahead of the Silver Line Phase II extension opening later this fall, potentially in November.
The transit agency says it has 5,000 paper maps in stations and on trains, so it will take time to swap them out. The new map is now the official version and will soon appear on Metro’s website and elsewhere.
“It will take several weeks of planning and preparation for Metro to print and replace every map of various sizes, fare tables, and customer brochures,” Metro said in a statement.
WMATA is also posting new signs at several re-named stations and switching out signs with the Silver Line’s new end line stations, Ashburn and Downtown Largo (formerly Largo Town Center).
For a walkthrough of all the changes to Metro’s new map, click on the interactive map below (the best experience is on a desktop). To begin the slideshow, click the ‘Present’ button. Then hit the full-screen arrows (yes, the ones pointing diagonally to the corners of your screen) in the bottom right corner. Then, click on the blinking blue arrow at the bottom of your screen to explore.
Some new changes to Metro’s map that you’ll notice include:
Metro added six new Silver Line stations (Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Loudoun Gateway, and Ashburn).
The Loudoun County line appears on the map as Metrorail starts carrying passengers farther from the DC line than it has in its 46-year history.
Metro changed the name of five stations (Largo Town Center to Downtown Largo, Prince George’s Plaza to Hyattsville Crossing, White Flint to North Bethesda, Tysons Corner to Tysons, and West Falls Church VT-UVA to West Falls Church VT). The name changes haven’t all been welcomed with open arms.
Potomac Yard appears for the first time as a “future station.”
The airport bus shuttle logo disappears as the Silver Line replaces the 5a bus.
One negative aspect of the map is the legibility of the new Silver Line station names that spill into the Potomac River. “We don’t need to see the twists and turns of a river on a simplified diagram like this, and it’s not even a particularly accurate interpretation of the geography anyway. If the river just extended straight out from the District border at a 45-degree angle, it would avoid all of the labels completely and dramatically improve legibility,” writes Cameron Booth of TransitMaps.net.
Also, take a look at a compare and contrast of the 2019 map vs. the 2022 map. Pull the white slider to up and down to reveal the changes.
If you want to see Metro’s map grow from 1976 to 2017, check out this graphic from Greater Greater Washington.