All posts tagged: San Jose

Historical Map: Peninsular Electric Railway, California, c. 1908

August 3, 2022
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An attractive bird’s-eye panoramic map of the lines of the Peninsular Railway (1900–1934), affectionately known as “the Pin” by locals. The railway was founded as a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad to provide connecting electric interurban service through the Santa Clara Valley from San Jose. The map itself is a fairly typical example of the genre, though the curved labels for locality names along the lines are an unusual and effective device for enclosing […]

Submission – Unofficial Map: Caltrain Service Diagram by Fern K Hahn

May 23, 2022
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Submitted by Fern, who says: Frustrated with illegible service patterns and a pretty ugly system map (viewable here – Cam), I made my own line map for the Caltrain regional railway along the SF Peninsula. Curious what you think! Transit Maps says: This is a great example of how a transit diagram doesn’t need to be flashy or over designed to be successful – just clear and easy to understand. Similar in execution to Japanese […]

Submission – Official Map: BART System Map, 2020

May 18, 2020
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A few requests for a review of this major revision of the Bay Area’s BART map, so here goes… This map is meant to be deployed when service to Milpitas and Berryessa begins, so it won’t be seen immediately – but it’s good that BART is planning ahead and getting this work done ahead of time. Generally, there’s a lot to like about this iteration – the stylised coastline suits the schematic treatment of the route […]

Submission – Unofficial Map: Bay Area Transit Strip Map by Fern Kusnetzoff-Hahn

March 30, 2020
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Submitted by Fern, who says: A few weeks ago, i made a fairly rough strip map of almost all Bay Area passenger rail services using some pens and graph paper. I was wondering if you’d like to review it? Transit Maps says: A nice effort at a Bay Area-wide topological diagram, Fern! It certainly fits into the long, narrow proportions of your average strip map nicely. I particularly like the use of a “half-grid” for […]

Official Map: VTA San Jose Light Rail Map, 2020

January 20, 2020
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Along with a major service revision in December 2019 that – amongst other things –closed the Almaden Shuttle light rail line, San Jose’s Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) also took the opportunity to introduce a new light rail map, shown here. While it’s nothing outstanding, it’s clean, clear and easy to understand – which actually puts it ahead of quite a lot of other maps out there. I would like to see another use of the […]

Historical Map: Bay Area Regional Transit Connections, 1981

May 13, 2019
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Submitted by Calley, who says: This was found via the /r/BayArea subreddit. It appears to be an authentic transit map from September 1981 still hanging in the 12th Street Oakland City Center BART station! It’s published by an entity I’ve never heard of called the “Regional Transit Association.” On your blog I’ve previously seen a very clumsy and messy map that attempted to show the myriad transit systems of the Bay, including rail and connecting […]

Unofficial Map – Bay Area Rail One-Word Station Names by Brian Stokle

May 13, 2017
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A tongue-in-cheek rationalisation of Bay Area rail transit to remove all the slashes in those terribly long and indecisive station names: North Concord/Martinez, Warm Springs/South Fremont, etc. Amusing, but also a pointed look at the peculiarly American habit of attempting to appease everyone when it comes to naming stations. Now, can someone do one of these for Washington, DC? *cough* U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo *cough* Source: Urban Life Signs

Future Fantasy Map: Consolidated Bay Area Rapid Transit, 2050 by Adam Susaneck

June 22, 2016
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Here at Transit Maps, we see quite a few unified Bay Area maps. It seems that that the fractured nature of all the different transit agencies in the area seems to frustrate quite a few people, which drives them to try and make something better. The latest is this effort by Adam Susaneck, showing what things could look like in 2050 or so in a perfect world.  It’s impeccably researched – head on over to […]

Submission – Unofficial Maps: Bay Area Rail Transit by Lyle Simmons

January 14, 2016
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Submitted via email by Lyle, who says: The Bay Area has one of the most complex and diverse urban transit systems in the world, including three commuter rail systems, one metro systems, two light rail systems, one heritage streetcar line, and four major bus agencies. Unfortunately, there isn’t an official map linking any of these services together, so I thought I might make one myself. Transit Maps says: There’s a lot to like about the […]

Rail Services of the Bay Area, September 1937 by David Edmondson

March 26, 2015
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David, who runs The Greater Marin blog, has created this absolutely superb modern transit diagram version of rail services in the Bay Area in 1937. He’s used a contemporaneous railway timetable as his main source of information, so it seem to be pretty accurate, although he’s still seeking final feedback about the map’s content before finishing the project up. Stylistically, the map quite obviously borrows from Massimo Vignelli’s New York subway map, complete with black […]