2015 “Transit Maps” Holiday Gift Guide – Posters!

November 25, 2015
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Maps: it’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? Here’s a selection of some great map posters to get up on your wall this Christmas.

Stations & Lines by data visualisation designer Nicholas Rougeux. A lovely representation of all rail rapid transit stations in selected cities and the route lines that serve them. Boston, Chicago, London, New York, Paris and Washington DC. 24″ x 36″ posters for $28.60 on Nick’s website.

Also by Nick, MetroDots – a typographical treatment of station names with coloured dots representing the lines that call at each one. Chicago, London, New York and San Francisco. 24″ x 36″ posters for $28.60 on Nick’s website.

Michael Tyznik’s fantastic Game of Thrones Westeros transit map. Prints from $30 on InPRNT, although I’d recommend the larger sizes. See also his other GoT map of the “Known World” and an intriguing new map inspired by the fantasy gaming world of Tamriel.

Jug Cerovic’s range of standardised “INAT” transit maps are available as prints over on RedBubble. Small 12″ x 12″ prints start at just $15, up to $56 for large 30″ x 30″ prints.

The superb Subway Diagram Detail series by SuperWarmRed showcases six details from the 2012 Massimo Vignelli New York Subway map, printed with 10 PANTONE spot colours. Set of 6 for $300 from the SuperWarmRed website.

David Edmondson’s superbly researched map of rail (and ferry) in and around 1937 San Francisco. 24″ x 24″ prints from $40 on David’s website. Check out his expanding range of other “Age of Rail” prints while you’re there!

CANADA ONLY! A fantastic replica of the 1958 Toronto Subway Map, available as a 20″ x 28″ print for just $20 from the TTC’s shop.

CANADA ONLY! It seems to me that it’s a rite of passage for Torontonians to steal subway maps from trains. I’ve got a better idea: buy the actual, official map from the TTC for just $10 (link no longer active, sorry!) and tell your friends that you nicked it.

2015 “Transit Maps” Holiday Gift Guide – Books!

November 25, 2015
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About the only thing as good as actual transit maps is books about transit maps (and/or wayfinding design)! Here’s a selection of great reads for the map lover in your life!

Transit Maps of the World, November 2015 Edition by Mark Ovenden – a book that needs no further introduction to readers of this blog (My review here). A fantastic update to an already superb book. Buy on Amazon here.

London Underground by Design by Mark Ovenden – A complete look at the history of design in the Underground, the Tube Map included. The pioneering work of Frank Pick and Charles Holden is especially of interest, and there are plenty of beautiful Underground posters to savour. Buy on Amazon here.

One last Mark Ovenden book! Paris Underground explores the maps, stations and design of the famous Paris Métro over time. Buy on Amazon here.

The NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual reissue, compact edition. The Hamish Smyth/Jesse Reed facsimile of the famous Unimark manual, now in a more affordable compact 10″ x 10″ edition. $54.95 from standardsmanual.com.

Helvetica and the New York City Subway System by Paul Shaw. A comprehensive look at the introduction of the signage from that Graphics Standards Manual into the actual subway system. $42.95 from The MIT Press.

Underground Maps Unravelled by Maxwell Roberts. Not a cheap book by any means, but almost essential if you want to make better transit maps. Roberts has the uncanny ability to explore every option possible for a map right through to the end, even bad solutions that normal designers would discard much earlier in the process… all to see what makes a map tick. From £40 (UK) to £50 (the rest of the world), direct from Max’s website.

Vignelli Transit Maps by Peter Lloyd. An excellent exploration of the Massimo Vignelli New York Subway diagram and its historical context (My review here). From $35 on Amazon.

Submission – Future Map: 2021 TTC Subway, Toronto, Canada

November 20, 2015
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Submitted by Mike Syyap, who says:

The TTC recently had a board meeting, and they revealed what the the future map from 2021 would look like. They still haven’t decided on the what the name will be for an existing station (Eglinton West) which will be a big interchange. Between the the road name choice (Allen) and the neighbourhood choice (Cedarvale), I prefer the road name since a big majority of the name are already named after streets, and I’d like to say that most people in Toronto don’t exactly have an affiliation for neighbourhood names (unless they’re downtown). Map-wise, I’m conflicted at the portrayal of Line 5 as it is an LRT, half underground and half street-level. I know typical line design use different weighting or styles, but I suppose they’re doing this for consistency. What are your thoughts?

Transit Maps says:

I feel that the TTC is trying to present the system as a unified whole, despite any mode difference (LRT versus subway versus “RT” on the Scarborough Line). Hence the numbering scheme to tie all the lines together and the visual presentation of all lines being “equal”. Much the same is done in Los Angeles, where heavy rail subway and LRT are presented equally on the map under the “Metro Rail” brand. Perhaps “rapid transit” might be a better descriptor for the map, but “Subway” has historical precedence in Toronto, so it stays. Heck, the New York Subway isn’t entirely underground, nor is the London Underground, so I think we can cut the TTC a little slack here.

The map itself, though, is starting to run into problems. It’s always been heavily vertically compressed so that it can fit above the doors inside train cars, but the extension of the 1 – Yonge – University line out to Vaughan is really pushing it in terms of fitting things into the map. There’s an enormous gap between stations on the new horizontal part, and then five stations are crammed in at the end of the line. The diagonal part of the line through York University is at a very shallow angle as well, which makes things look even more cramped for room.

Some little inconsistencies in design as well: the restroom icon for Kennedy is between the label and the line numbers, but it’s underneath the name at Don Mills and other terminus stations. An indication in the legend for this icon would also be welcome.

I see that there’s no indication on the map of where you can transfer to GO Transit commuter rail. Torontonians, is that a problem or does no-one actually do that in real life? I personally like maps which encourage cross-agency multi-modal travel, but wonder if local usage of the system makes this a non-issue.

Our rating: The map seems to be an early prototype produced for the report it’s contained in, so I’ll cut it some slack, but it is revealing some severe limitations in the map’s current format. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: TTC Report on Eglinton Line Station Names 

Submission: Time Scale Map of Bay Area Rapid Transit by Michael Lopato

November 20, 2015
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Submitted by Michael, who says:

Today, I would like to submit a different sort of map.  Most time scale maps that I have seen so far (such as this one or this one) involve two common elements: a central station or origin, and concentric circles representing time.  Though I believe that both of these are very good maps, this approach might be better suited to a city like Pittsburgh (where nearly everyone commutes to the central business district) rather than one such as the Bay Area (where there are many different destinations). I realized that it is possible to create a time scale map without a central origin or concentric circles. This map shows the result of my experiment, is based on the timetable of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, and shows the approximate travel times between all stations on the system.

Transit Maps says:

An interesting approach from Michael, and one that works well in this instance because of BART’s usage of 60-degree/hexagonal angles in its own official map. That hex map background definitely puts me in mind of the strategic war games I used to play when I was younger, though!

Michael’s system is certainly ingenious (one hex = one minute), and probably works pretty well even when transferring across lines because BART does make some use of timed transfers. Maybe you’d add five minutes instead of one when moving from one line to another just to be a little more realistic? 

However, the biggest drawback for me is the sheer number of hexes from one end of a line to another: I count 90 total hexes on the Millbrae-Pittsburg line (i.e., 89 minutes from one end to the other) – that’s a lot of tedious manual counting and quite prone to error. This could perhaps be mitigated by stating the total time required for each line in the legend, or maybe by having subtotals indicated for common sections of track on the map. Daly City – Embarcadero: 18 minutes, for example – allowing quicker addition of larger sets of numbers, rather than having to manually add up each and every hex between here and there.

In a way, this map is simply a graphical representation of those old road map matrices; in which all the possible points of origin would be listed down the page, with all the destinations listed across. A reader would then cross-reference the two locations they required to determine the time and/or distance between them. This map is definitely much prettier to look at than that, but a matrix is actually a far more efficient way of displaying this type of data.

Our rating: An interesting approach to the problem, executed very stylishly. However, counting large numbers of hexes gets tedious very quickly and ultimately the map fails to impart its information quickly enough for longer trips. Two-and-a-half stars, but huge kudos for trying a different approach! 

2015 Holiday Gift Guide: New York Subway Map Prints by Tommi Moilanen

November 19, 2015
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Seeing as I’m just back from the Big Apple, and as Tommi has now put his awesome map up on Society6 for sale, I thought this would be a good place to launch Transit Maps’ inaugural “Holiday Gift Guide”!

Although Society6 offers prints in many sizes, I would definitely only purchase either the large ($39) or extra-large ($52) prints, due to the fine detail and small type in this map. Click here to see the product on Society6.

Follow the tag “2015 Gift Guide” over the next few weeks for more great transit map-related gift ideas!

Before and After: Regional Rail and Coach Network, Victoria, Australia

November 14, 2015
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It’s always fun to do a “before and after” comparison, and here’s a fantastic example of how a well-drawn diagrammatic map can offer enhanced system legibility over a more geographically-based map.

The old map (top), dating from October 2014, is pretty terrible work. Towns and cities are in the right geographical location, but are simply joined by straight lines, which creates a difficult-to-read “spider web” of interconnecting and overlapping routes. Rail lines are shown as both purple and grey, depending on whether or not they’re part of the ‘myki’ fare system, while coach routes are dashed gray lines. This dual role for grey adds some more confusion to the mix! An inset is required for the Melbourne metropolitan area, as it can’t be shown properly on a scale map of all of Victoria. About the only thing this map does better than the new one is to indicate which myki zone a railway station is in – although even this is coarsely handled, by way of a number appended to the station’s name.

The new map (bottom), introduced in June 2015, takes a diagrammatic approach, and is far, far more legible and understandable. All routes are now purple, but each has a distinctive and recognisable pattern that immediately distinguishes it from the the other modes: solid for ‘myki’ V/Line trains, dashed for regional “paper ticket” trains and double-stroked for coach lines. The Melbourne metro area has been expanded in size to easily accommodate all the stations that were previously on the inset, and there’s even room to indicate the SkyBus service from Southern Cross to the airport. 

Although the diagram is undoubtedly better than the map, the particulars of the coach routes still aren’t always clear – especially in western Victoria where there’s just a big grid of route lines with few clear start and end points. Still, the map certainly gives a better idea of all the destinations available, if not all the particulars (time to refer to a schedule!).

Our rating: Old map – 2 stars. New map: 3.5 stars. Much better!

Source: New map from official PTV website

Submission – Official Map: New Seattle Link Light Rail “Red Line” Strip Map

November 13, 2015
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Submitted by SounderBruce, who says:

Sound Transit has put up the first of the new Link Light Rail maps in its trains here in Seattle, featuring the new “Red Line” branding that will be phased in by the time the second line (the Blue Line, formerly East Link) opens in 2023. The two “Coming Soon” signs are covering 3 new stations that are opening in 2016, extending the existing line up to the Univ. of Washington via Capitol Hill and to Angle Lake near Sea-Tac Airport.

Transit Maps says:

Looks like Sound Transit is getting ready for change nice and early… the three new stations are coming soon enough, but the official switch over to the Red Line name for what is now just “Central Link” won’t happen until 2023, when the East Link line over Lake Washington to Bellevue and Overlake opens – this will then become the “Blue Line”.

I quite like the mystery of the big “Coming Soon” notices at each end of the map, although I do note that the labels for the current terminal stations at Westlake/Seattle and SeaTac/Airport are set in bold type. Presumably, the future termini at the University of Washington and Angle Lake will also be bold, so that’ll look a little odd.

Interestingly, our old friends, the required-by-state-law pictograms, have been released from the circles that they used to be contained within, which does give them each a slightly more unique silhouette than before. However, they’ve all been angled 45 degrees counter-clockwise with their label, which reduces their clarity somewhat (also, the Mount Baker pictogram on its side looks kind of ridiculous). I do think it’s interesting – and perhaps inconsistent – that the icons for connections below the route line stay horizontal while the icons for the stations themselves are angled.

Our rating: A little change in preparation for the future. It’s only got a shelf-life of a few years, but could perhaps have been executed a little better. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: SounderBruce/Flickr

Transit Maps is on Instagram!

November 13, 2015
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Follow along – hopefully I’ll have lots of great transit-related photos from my trip to New York next week to share. I’ll also be adding some great detail photos of old maps and work-in-progress snapshots of new projects as I work on them.

Transit Maps Instagram

Reader Question: How do you decide on dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a map?

November 13, 2015
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Question: How do you decide on the overall dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a new map?

Answer: For my personal map projects, the aspect ratio is the first thing I decide upon. I generally try to stick with standard formats that are compatible with framing – these being 1:1 (square), and 3:2 or 4:3 rectangles. 

Generally, I use 3:2 the most – 36″ x 24″ and 24″ x 16″ are great finished sizes and the aspect ratio works nicely for a lot of maps. I do try to work as closely as possible to the final size of the piece, as it allows me to judge whether elements like labels are going to be legible when I’m done.

Of course, real world transit maps often have their size and aspect ratio determined by the location that they’re going to be used at. Boston’s MBTA map is a square because the signage at stations is divided into three square panels, for example.

Official Map: Walking Time Between London Tube Stations

November 11, 2015
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Brought to my attention by Russell Morris on Twitter, this is a new official TfL map that shows the approximate walking time between London Underground stations in Zones 1 and 2. 

While it’s nice to see that TfL has recognised the desire from the public for alternative maps of the network (see also the recent official TfL “geographic” map), this is about as low budget as a “new” map could possibly be. It’s basically Zones 1 and 2 cut out of the standard Tube map with some numbers placed halfway between each station indicating time. There’s a little “nick” cut out of the route lines where the numbers are to indicate which line the number belongs to, which is fairly unconvincing and almost unnecessary in my eyes.

The biggest problem with the map, though, is that it assumes that you only ever want to follow the path of the the Tube lines themselves. It never indicates a walking path that allows you to cut across between lines, which – as many a seasoned London commuter knows – can save a lot of time. For example:

  • Covent Garden -> Tottenham Court Road: 0.4 miles, 9 minutes
  • St Pauls -> Mansion House: 0.3 miles, 6 minutes
  • Lancaster Gate -> Paddington: 0.4 miles, 9 minutes (this last one looks like a huge trek on the diagrammatic Tube Map, but they’re actually quite close together)

And more… heck, it even takes 5 minutes or so to get from one end of the Monument/Bank complex to the other, but that’s not indicated on the map either! Definitely a wasted opportunity to produce something really useful here, I think.