John Tauranac writes on New York City’s social- and architectural history, a subject that he taught part time for almost forty years at New York University. He also gave illustrated lectures and walking tours for organizations such as the Municipal Art Society, and he designs maps. Tauranac chaired the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s subway map committee in the mid and late 1970s and was the visionary behind the official New York City Subway Map published in 1979 — an iconic map that won its share of kudos. Additionally, he oversaw the creation of dozens of other transportation maps for the MTA and has designed maps for many New York organizations. As described by "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz in The New York Daily News, John Tauranac is “the best in the business.”

His innovations in mapping the subway system include having service right on the line in symbols indicating express or local service, and station names that include the street of operation so that people can see in one place where the station is without having to look elsewhere, and service that is not simply described as "Full Time" or "Part Time," because "Part Time" can be any number of times. By color-coding the service, you can see full-time service, and service that only operates on weekdays or weekends, or rush hours, and so on.

Maps published under the Tauranac imprint include "Manhattan Block By Block: A Street Atlas," "Manhattan: 3 Maps in 1," "Manhattan Subway & Bus Map," "Manhattan Subway Streets," "Manhattan Subways and Buses + Late Night Maps," and his newest take on mapping the New York City subway, titled “New York City Subway Map.”