The background of the new map is white, which is another way to create more contrast. The previous version has a beige background. Flamm’s map also strips a majority of the details displayed in the background of the MTA’s old map, including the locations of major streets and landmarks. He said they would make the design too cluttered.

The MTA on Wednesday unveiled a new “easily readable” New York City subway map for the first time in nearly 50 years – but straphangers knocked the redesigned graphic as a “complicated” brain teaser that impedes their ability to navigate the underground rail system.

When the subway first opened in 1904, maps were simple diagrams that depicted individual subway companies, such as the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Company (BMT), and the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND).