Sent my way by Mike Christensen.

Long-time readers of Transit Maps will know that I have long deplored the abysmal quality of the UTA’s rail services map. I first reviewed it way back in July 2012 (where I awarded it one measly star), and things have only gone downhill from there. 

By April 2013, I was calling it “the most embarrassing transit map in the U.S.” and gave it a big, fat ZERO. I basically pleaded for anyone to make a better map, and showcased a whole slew of alternative maps that actually were.

Now, finally – finally! – the UTA has done something about it, unveiling this new schematic diagram on their website recently. It’s a solid, workmanlike effort – not fantastic by any means, but still infinitely better than the dross that preceded it.

The typeface used is Hoefler & Co.’s Whitney Condensed, a definite step up from Arial! I imagine that a condensed typeface was used to allow the labels for the Planetarium and Old GreekTown stations to fit into their limited space. This works well enough, but does make the rest of the map seem oddly empty. Almost as if to compensate, the designer has put in an enormous north pointer, which at least looks nice. I do think the grey locality labels could be a little larger: they’re only just bigger than the station labels!

The placement of the parking icons is a little odd: it seems like a decision was made to put them on the opposite side of the route line from the label… except when there’s no room to do so, which just makes the placement look a little random. I also would have liked to see a better visual distinction between the two different parking icons than just colour. A “P+” icon for multi-day parking could work well, for example.

Our rating: By no means world-class, but so much better than before. Three stars for making the switch to a better approach!

Source: UTA website