When I lived in New York I looked into mass producing a compass that was marked "Uptown/Downtown" (in place of North/South) and "Eastside/Westside" (in place of East/West) with the North/South line correctly aligned at 29.8 degrees from the actual.
You can hand these to visitors and they'd instantly be able to tell which direction to walk when stepping out of the subway.
I smell an iPhone app. Uses GPS to determine what city you are in and then displays direction in local terms. I want one. This could even work in Boston where the North End is mostly east of City Hall and the South End is a couple of miles west of South Boston
You can hand these to visitors and they'd instantly be able to tell which direction to walk when stepping out of the subway.