The World Cup of Transit Maps, 2018!

April 1, 2018
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Let’s have some fun!

Presented here are 32 cities from around the world (12 from the Americas, 12 from Europe and 8 from Asia), representing a wide range of rail-based rapid transit map design. They’re arranged into four groups of eight: the Red and Blue Lines contain cities from the Americas, while the Green and Orange Lines are comprised of European cities. The 8 Asian cities have been spread evenly across the four groups and seeded so that they can’t knock each other out before the quarter finals (if they make it that far!).

The mechanics are simple: it’s a straight knock-out tournament. Win your match and you’re through to the next round. Lose and you’re out. 

Starting on Wednesday, April 4th, I’ll post a Twitter poll on my @transitmap account for matches using the hashtag #wctransitmaps. Each poll will run for 24 hours, after which a winner will be declared. I plan on doing two matches per weekday, at least in the initial rounds, just to keep the tournament rolling along at a brisk pace. Starting times will be at 6am and noon Pacific Daylight Savings Time precisely for each match – hooray for scheduled tweets! See the schedule for the Round of 32 match-ups below and get ready to vote!

When voting, I ask you to consider the design of the current official transit map for each city as found on the agency’s website and make your judgment as to which of the two maps you consider best. Of course, how you define “best” is entirely up to you. There’s a complete list of links to the relevant maps at the bottom of this post. Remember that this event is just for fun, and is wholly unscientific. Also remember that the more people who participate, the more fun the tournament will be – so be sure to retweet and share each match poll as it comes out to maximize the visibility of the competition.

The graphic at the top of this post will be updated as each match ends, reflecting the progression and elimination of cities from the tournament. If you’re so inclined, you can download your own copy of the bracket to follow along, or you can try to predict the final result by filling in the bracket before the tournament starts. Share your brackets on Twitter with the hashtag #wctransitmaps for everyone to see. Boasting rights for perfect brackets!

Schedule for The Finals

MONDAY, APRIL 30
6am: Third Place Playoff: Boston vs. London – LONDON WINS!

TUESDAY, MAY 1
6am: The Inaugural Transit Maps World Cup Final
Moscow, Russia vs. Santiago, Chile – SANTIAGO WINS!


Schedule for Semi Finals

THURSDAY, APRIL 26
6am: 1st Semi Final – London vs. Moscow – MOSCOW ADVANCES

FRIDAY, APRIL 27
6am: 2nd Semi Final – Boston vs. Santiago – SANTIAGO ADVANCES


Schedule for Quarter Finals

FRIDAY, APRIL 20
6am: Green Line QF – London vs. Berlin – LONDON ADVANCES

MONDAY, APRIL 23
6am: Red Line QF – New York vs. Boston – BOSTON ADVANCES

TUESDAY, APRIL 24
6am: Orange Line QF – Moscow vs. Paris – MOSCOW ADVANCES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
6am: Blue Line QF – Seoul vs. Santiago – SANTIAGO ADVANCES


Schedule for Round of 16 Matches

MONDAY, APRIL 16
6am: Green Line Match 5 – London vs. Stockholm – LONDON ADVANCES
Noon: Red Line Match 5 – New York vs. Chicago – NEW YORK ADVANCES

TUESDAY, APRIL 17
6am: Orange Line Match 5 – Moscow vs. Vienna – MOSCOW ADVANCES
Noon: Blue Line Match 5 – São Paulo vs. Seoul – SEOUL ADVANCES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18
6am: Green Line Match 6 – Berlin vs. Hong Kong – BERLIN ADVANCES
Noon: Red Line Match 6 – Beijing vs. Boston – BOSTON ADVANCES

THURSDAY, APRIL 19
6am: Orange Line Match 6 – Barcelona vs Paris – PARIS ADVANCES
Noon: Blue Line Match 6 – Vancouver vs Santiago – SANTIAGO ADVANCES

Schedule for Round of 32 Matches

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
6am: Red Line Match 1 – New York vs Delhi – NEW YORK ADVANCES
Noon: Green Line Match 1 – London vs Istanbul – LONDON ADVANCES

THURSDAY, APRIL 5
6am: Blue Line Match 1 – Washington, DC vs São Paulo – SAO PAULO ADVANCES
Noon: Orange Line Match 1 – Moscow vs Milan – MOSCOW ADVANCES

FRIDAY, APRIL 6
6am: Red Line Match 2 – Beijing vs Toronto – BEIJING ADVANCES
Noon: Green Line Match 2 – Berlin vs Madrid – BERLIN ADVANCES

MONDAY, APRIL 9
6am: Blue Line Match 2 – Mexico City vs Vancouver – VANCOUVER ADVANCES
Noon: Orange Line Match 2 – Barcelona vs St. Petersburg – BARCELONA ADVANCES

TUESDAY, APRIL 10
6am: Red Line Match 3 – Chicago vs Los Angeles – CHICAGO ADVANCES
Noon: Green Line Match 3 – Stockholm vs Prague – STOCKHOLM ADVANCES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11
6am: Blue Line Match 3 – Seoul vs Buenos Aires – SEOUL ADVANCES
Noon: Orange Line Match 3 – Tokyo vs Vienna – VIENNA ADVANCES 

THURSDAY, APRIL 12
6am: Red Line Match 4 – Montréal vs Boston – BOSTON ADVANCES
Noon: Green Line Match 4 – Hong Kong vs Budapest – HONG KONG ADVANCES

FRIDAY, APRIL 13
6am: Blue Line Match 4 – Singapore vs Santiago – SANTIAGO ADVANCES
Noon: Orange Line Match 4 – Paris vs Taipei – PARIS ADVANCES


List of Official Transit Maps for Each City (in alphabetical order):

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