Sooo yeah, I agree the Japanese one is much nicer. I don't recall ever even seeing a schedule at the stations, just "train arriving in X minutes". The train map and per-line map are at every station, and the train+bus map is pretty common too.
I notice the Chicago map has multiple stations with the same name -- is this not a problem when using Google Maps and other navigation apps? How would the app know which "Pulaski" I want to go to?
Those are the names of the street the station is at, if you follow the map north/south you'll see all the Pulaski stations are on the same street. In an app you'd use the address for where you want to go and it may or may not include the train. Though the apps can also understand "Blue line Pulaski" if it really is your destination rather than a stop on the way.
Only distributed as a PDF: https://www.transitchicago.com/redline/
Overall train map: https://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/6/ctamap_Lsystem.png
Overall train+bus maps: https://www.transitchicago.com/maps/system/ + https://www.transitchicago.com/maps/downtown/
Sooo yeah, I agree the Japanese one is much nicer. I don't recall ever even seeing a schedule at the stations, just "train arriving in X minutes". The train map and per-line map are at every station, and the train+bus map is pretty common too.