In May 2013, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) unveiled the first phase of its citywide wayfinding system. Encouraging people to walk, bike and ride public transit, the goal of the system is to provide consistent, official, in situ information that supports and empowers New York’s locals and visitors as everyone navigates, understands and explores more of the city.

The design consortium, trading as PentaCityGroup (PCG), comprises wayfinding specialists City ID as lead designer with industrial designers Billings Jackson Design , graphic designers Pentagram , RBA Group providing engineering, urban design and project management and T-Kartor , GIS database developers and cartographers.

The project, designed by PentaCityGroup (PCG), is a benchmark for other global cities. The map-based information system takes to New York City streets, both as a network of street signs, guiding pedestrians between and around neighborhoods, and at every Citi Bike station, helping riders using New York’s new bike share program to plan their trips.

PCG is now working with NYC DOT, New York City Transit, NYC&Co, the city’s Business Improvement Districts and other partners to expand the system. The team is extending the system into new print, mobile and other digital media applications, and integrating information about other transit modes. The latest phase has launched a first for New York City. The Select Bus Service product brings real-time bus information to passengers providing map-based pedestrian information for those leaving the bus and improved transit information for those choosing to board.

The first map-based signs for pedestrians have been installed across the city in varying environments. Moving into its third phase, the network of these pedestrian signs will extend to cover much of downtown and midtown Manhattan before the end of this year. The system maps also feature on every Citi Bike station and will be installed on the B44 Select Bus Service route.