Submission – Official Map: Madrid Cercanías Rail Network, December 2024

January 6, 2025
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Submitted by Juan, who says:

I send the new version of the Renfe-Madrid Cercanías network. It seems to me that it has improved quite a lot the previous version. This previous version had crossroads, angles, etc. I would like to know your opinion about this new map.

Transit Maps says:

What a massive improvement this over previous official versions! [See our reviews for the 2022 and 2013 versions – Cam] For once, a diagram has been entirely rethought and redesigned instead of trying to keep using a framework that clearly wasn’t working and the results are definitely worth it, in my opinion.

First and foremost – the fare zones are (and I don’t say this often!) really quite lovely: subdued pastel tones instead of harsh grey and white and simple, almost concentric shapes with an absolute minimum of changes in direction. The names of the zones are also arranged in a very clear, organised and visually appealing manner. Basically, a lot of other transit diagrams around the world that show fare zones could look to this one for some ideas on how to do it right.

The routes the lines take across the diagram definitely benefit from the redesign as well: C-5, in particular, has a much smoother trajectory and many other lines have been straightened out and simplified for the better as well. Strangely, the odd little “bump” for Sol station remains, even though it seems like there’s no real need for it anymore.

It’s not all perfect, though: some of the station labelling is a bit carelessly placed or cramped for room and the stations on the southeast leg of line C-3 are very unevenly arranged due to the need to fit them within the proper zone boundaries. It seems to me that the zone boundaries down here were designed to work best for line C-5, and C-3 suffers a bit as a result. The 90-degree turn that line C-7 takes before heading northeast isn’t nested properly with the other lines at that corner (the radius is too large). Finally, the pecked grey route line for the “bike line” – which I presume represents Madrid’s Anillo Verde Ciclista – has pretty poor contrast with the background and can be pretty hard to see at times.

Our final word: So much better than previous official maps, with a quite dreamy representation of fare zones. Not perfect, but a massive step in the right direction!

Source: Renfe Madrid Cercanías website

Submission – Unofficial Map: Tramways in Gdańsk, Poland by Arsen Mosiichuk, 2024

December 18, 2024
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Submitted by Arsen, who says:

Hello, this summer I with Sergey Steblina as art-director designed a transit map of Gdańsk trams. I am very interested what Transit Maps think about this.

Transit Maps says:

Overall, this is very solid and clean work – very much in the style of diagram popularised by Ilya Birman, with straight segments connected by wide, sweeping curves. For the most part, this looks rather lovely, though the tight obtuse angle that Line 12 takes to head down to the bottom left looks a little unconvincing, as does the squiggly routing that Line 10 takes around the Nowy Port loop at the top right. The routing of Line 5 around this loop looks like it might have an error as well: if it enters the loop going from Kasztanowa to Na Zaspę and then travels counter-clockwise around the loop, it would exit at Rybołowców back to Kasztanowa – meaning that there’s no need to show Line 5 running directly between Rybołowców and Na Zaspę, a segment that’s only served by Line 7.

The colour palette of the map is nice and bright, and the parks, water and city centre are nicely indicated, but I do feel that the very light green chosen for Line 2 is just too light when compared to the other lines. It almost disappears completely when running alongside the dark purple Line 11, for example. The bright yellow of Line 6 poses some more contrast problems when its station tick is adjacent to the map’s white background at the top left of the map.

Speaking of the station ticks: I love the modern design of them with a slight inwards tapering, but it does create something of an optical illusion where the last tick at a station – the one leading to the station label – looks a tiny bit smaller than the others. This is one of these things that probably just needs to be tweaked a bit by perhaps making that last tick just a tiny bit wider so that it looks visually right rather than being mathematically correct.

Finally, a quick Wikipedia search seems to indicate that Lines 4 and 7 only run on weekdays, and Line 11 only runs during weekday peak hours – all of which would be useful information to include in the diagram’s legend.

Our final word: Clean and modern, though I’ve seen a few maps previously with a very similar design style. Some of the curves could be cleaned up a bit, and a couple of colour choices could perhaps be revisited. Otherwise, this is great work.

Book Review: “Iconic Transit Maps” by Mark Ovenden, 2024

December 16, 2024
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After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is Mark Ovenden’s third offering on the subject of global transit maps and diagrams. The question to be asked, then, is simply – is a new book on the same subject worth it?

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Submission – Unofficial Diagram of Victorian Ferry Routes, 2024 by Bushland Maps

November 21, 2024
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Submitted by Bushland Maps, who say:

Ferries are a bit of a forgotten mode of transport in Melbourne. With no integration into the fare system or journey planners, and with overarching public transport body PTV only “overseeing” three of the routes (which doesn’t have any practical effect on the service), they are mostly either seen as a tourist attraction (which fairly some are) or not seen at all.

Since there is no official map or central source of information, I figured I’d make a map that acts as both. It takes design style inspiration from the current series of PTV network maps, and incorporates modal connection symbols from the previous generation of rail map, modified for better visual accessibility.

Given the sheer amount of variation in operating styles and frequencies, along with the fact many tourist-oriented services only operate certain days or seasons, I have included rough descriptions of service to help people plan their journeys at a glance, with links to ferry operator websites for bookings and further information.

I hope that this map will help raise awareness of our ferries and hopefully one day contribute to filling in the gaps of this rather sparse network! Looking forward to feedback to further improve and refine the map.

Transit Maps says:

I love maps that draw attention to lesser-known or used modes of transportation, and this a great example, packed full of useful information. Piggybacking off the familiar Public Transport Victoria (PTV) design style works well and lends some authenticity to the project.

I find the simple geometric shapes used for the informational icons to be reminiscent of nautical flags – and thus appropriate for a maritime map like this – though it does mean the reader always has to refer to the legend to understand that an orange square means a bus connection, for example. The alternative approach would be to use pictorial icons that depict what the icon represents – a bus, in this case. However, on a map like this that is filled with lots of detailed information and is meant to be studied carefully, I certainly don’t mind the approach that’s been taken.

A few minor points for potential improvement – first, I’d like it if the silhouette of the Melbourne inset matched the shape of the actual Melbourne-area map a bit more, as it seems to indicate a much larger area than what’s actually shown. Second, some thought into how the legend is organised: by service frequency? By operator? Alphabetically by route name? What’s going to help the reader find what they’re after the most? Having the very limited Melbourne Cup Carnival-only ferry listed above other services that run more frequently and are far more useful seems particularly strange to me. At the very least, I feel it should be grouped with its parent Williamstown ferry.

Our final word: A solid diagram showcasing ferry services in and around Melbourne, packed with useful information. Nice work!

Submission – Historical Map: Duluth Transit Authority, 1982

November 15, 2024
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Submitted by Darryl, who says:

Going through old boxes in my basement, I came across this 1982 opus from the Duluth Transit Authority. I may be biased because it’s the first transit map I ever saw, but I think it’s amazing, capturing the way the city nestles into the topography, and showing most points of interest, and showing how transit ties everything together. This is a scan, but the copyright and source info is at the bottom of the map.

Due to file size limitations, I couldn’t attach their current map but it can be found here [PDF]. It looks like it’s probably GIS based, and it lacks all the charm and pride of place of the older one. It could be anywhere. And the color coding of the routes leaves a lot to be desired, although if you like shades of teal, I guess you have many options.

Transit Maps says:

I’m loving this, Darryl! The late 1970s/early 1980s were a high point for illustrated maps like this, and the company that made this one – Archar – was responsible for quite a few of them in this time period. The Geographicus Rare Antique Maps website offers a short biography of the firm, stating that they were best known for their “City Character Prints” – cartoonish maps intended to showcase the “character” of a city.

As Darryl notes, this map has character in spades, with landmark buildings lovingly rendered, neighbourhoods all getting a neat little sign with their name on it, and Duluth’s steep topography is deftly handled with some very obvious cliffs indicating the heights. The two insets provide some needed extra detail for Duluth and Superior’s downtown areas, and all the bus routes are indicated by brightly coloured lines, which also look hand drawn. There’s some sort of visual hierarchy to the routes (perhaps explained on the reverse side of the map), with lines getting different treatments and widths depending on the type of service – beaded lines for express routes, for example – but it’s fairly primitive compared to what we expect from a modern bus map.

Our final word: Very much of its era, but the level of skill and craftsmanship is also evident. Quite glorious!

Submission – Official Map: Rail and Bus Map of Southeast Queensland, Australia, 2024

October 10, 2024
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Submitted by Lachlan, who says:

Brisbane dropped a new transit map and it is EXTREMELY pretty. I’m a big fan. Definitely the best-designed official transit map in Australia in my opinion. It even acknowledges the rapid bus routes and the G-Link light rail! I wish it could have acknowledged the existence of the ferries but that would probably require that the city centre become even more distorted…

… and also submitted by Michael, who says:

The new official South East Queensland map feels like a significant improvement on the last one, as low a bar as that may be. The CBD area is a lot less cluttered in spite of the inclusion of the upcoming cross-river-rail and some additional bus routes on the map. The dark-mode map may be an acquired taste but overall I feel it’s much more readable than any of the previous efforts.

(Also suggested as a map to review by numerous other Australian readers – thanks to all of you!)

Transit Maps says:

Yes, this is certainly a massive improvement on the tired and stale old designs for the SEQ rail diagram, last reviewed on the blog way back in 2014. I’d probably stop short of calling it amazing, because there’s a few odd design decisions that hold it back a bit.

But there’s also a lot of things it does well, not the least of which is finding a good balance between the massive sprawling nature of the entire network and the need to expand the central part of the diagram for clarity. Despite the addition of multiple busway routes and the planned Cross River Rail lines, the central section is presented far more clearly than ever before. The “under construction” dashes on the Cross River Rail lines are beautifully executed – these are often an afterthought, so it’s nice to see them get some love here. And overall, the diagram feels nicely balanced, though I feel a more rigorous vertical grid could have been employed to ensure that the vertical distance between station labels was totally consistent across the whole map outside of the expanded central area – there’s just enough variance to be noticeable.

The numbed bullets for the (select few) bus lines are nicely employed and help mitigate the fact that the line colours aren’t really very colour-blind friendly: all the bus lines coming in from the south-east are on the “warm” side of the spectrum and have very little contrast when run through a colour-blindness simulator.

Of course, the use of numbered bullets for the bus lines begs the question why lettered or numbered bullets aren’t used for the rail lines. It’s generally considered best practice to identify rail lines in this manner on a map or diagram for easy reference and more and more networks around the world are doing it – Los Angeles completely reworked its line names and letters recently, for example. The empty coloured rings just seem like a huge missed opportunity to me. Perhaps this is something that could be considered when the Cross River Rail is finished and all the lines take on a more permanent configuration.

While it’s great to see the G-Link tram line on the map, I find the line style for it (thin dashes on either side of a solid stroke, even on the identifying ring symbol!) to be very unconvincing. Perhaps a simpler cased line could have worked better?

The black background is very dramatic and stylish, but it also works against the diagram a bit. The very thin bus route lines have trouble standing out against it, as do most of the station labels, which are fairly lightweight and small. It’s often a good idea to bump small text up to the next available weight when reversing it out of a dark background, and there are even some fonts, like FF Transit, that have “negative” versions that are optically adapted for this use. However, this map uses Arial (yes, seriously) for its labels, so the next weight up is Arial Bold, which is way too BOLD.

Our final word: Not perfect, but a massive, massive improvement on what came before it. Hopefully, this gets tweaked and perfected by the time the Cross River Rail lines open, and then it may very well be “the best-designed official transit map in Australia”, like Lachlan says.

Submission – Official Map: Tram and Busways of Casablanca, Morocco, 2024

October 8, 2024
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Submitted by Leo, who says:

On September 24, the Casablanca tramway network nearly doubled in length with the opening of T3 and T4. The Casatramway network, operated by RATP, is depicted in the new map alongside the Casabusway BRT lines currently under construction. The map leaves something to be desired. I find the coastal outline to be overly-detailed, and the transfer station markers, labels, and connecting symbols are inconsistent. I’d like to see Berber text applied to station names as well.

Transit Maps says:

It’s hard to disagree with Leo’s assessment of this map – this is decidedly average work, unfortunately.

Taking the underlying base map – while there are elements on the coast that act as useful wayfinding elements, like the port area and the rocky point that the lighthouse sits on, I do find it overly detailed in comparison to the the simple forms of the routes shown. It’s almost looks like the designer has quickly traced the outline of the coast from Google Maps and called it a day – not a great look.

I’m also not enamoured with the clip art-like nature of the points of interest. They’re very flat and grey and are drawn in a few different styles – icons, simple line drawings, and “realistic” greyscale illustrations. It’s definitely worth the time to come up with a comprehensive suite of matching icons or illustrations, rather than having a hodge-podge of styles like this.

Looking at an actual map of Casablanca, it seems obvious that the designer of his diagram has tried to keep the route lines grounded in reality – as the tram lines travel down the middle of main roads for the most part – but it just ends up looking like a bit of a jumbled mess without too much thought as to how the piece looks like as a whole. There’s massive potential for some sort of radial diagram here, all centered on the point where the T1 and the T3 would intersect if their lines were extended on their current trajectories towards the top of the map. Interestingly, the angle between those two lines at that point is pretty much 36 degrees, which is a great number to work with for an interesting design (note that it’s half of the 72 degrees needed for a pentagonal design).

As for adding Berber language labels to the stations – trilingual labels are always tricky to execute well, though it would certainly be a welcome addition as I believe Standard Moroccan Berger is an official language of Morocco. The distinctive Tifinagh script can at least be seen in the map’s title block at the top left.

A few more thoughts: the “under construction” dashed lines for the new busways look rushed and lazy, like the designer just accepted the default values offered to them by Illustrator; what I can only assume are short turn-back terminus stations on the tram lines –denoted by cartouche with a white dashed border – aren’t explained anywhere in the legend; and, yes, the interchange stations are little confusing at times, especially when their “ladder” is overlaid completely on top of a route line.

Our final word: Underwhelming and unmemorable. I can’t help but think that this is a missed opportunity to create something more iconic as these new rapid transit lines come into service.

Source: Casatramways website

Submission – Unofficial Map: Improved Cercanías Madrid Map by Jace

August 30, 2024
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Submitted by Jace, who says:

A while ago I saw your review of the Cercanías Madrid [our 2022 review is here – Cam], and, as a regular user of the system, I too find the map quite bad: Uneven distances between lines, mismatched fonts in the route bullets, and overall lack of quality. So, I took it upon myself to make a better map.

I’ve centered it around the central loop of track, and I’ve switched around some lines (Namely the C-7 in the northwest and the C-3 and C-4) to avoid unnecessary crossings. I’ve made the CIVIS service, which is given little to no attention in the official map, into its own line and added a notice stating that it has limited service. Also, the key has been simplified, and I’ve added some notes regarding the service patterns (Like the C-5 sometimes terminating at Fuenlabrada instead of Humanes and the switch between C-1 and C-7 at Príncipe Pío). Finally, I’ve added notices where some trains continue past a terminus.

I really hope you like it, and I’m looking forward to your comment on how to improve it.

Transit Maps says:

I have really mixed feelings about this diagram. On one hand, the concept behind the reworking and the technical quality of the draftsmanship are both top notch – making two mirrored loops around the central spine works incredibly well and is a a fantastic example of finding a pattern and making it a strong visual motif – but on the other hand, I just think everything is just too lightweight to hold together as a cohesive piece of design.

I really do think that there’s a point where route lines can be too thin to be read and followed easily, and I think this diagram has crossed that line. These thin lines in turn create incredibly small station dots which can be hard to find, especially on the yellow C-5 line. And these are paired with very small, lightweight station names… and then hairline zone boundaries… it just all compounds into something that doesn’t feel grounded or solid, like it’s all going to float away on the next puff of wind. Note that the larger labels for the terminus/interchange station work much better – big and bold enough to feel important, and large enough to be read at a distance. The other labels don’t need to be as bold as these, but they should be much closer in size to them than what they are now – you really shouldn’t ever have labels that are smaller than their supporting icons.

Some other areas to consider – I was slightly surprised to see that the right-hand loop is slightly smaller from top to bottom that the left one: making them exact mirrors of each other seems like the obvious thing to do to me. Visually, they do look pretty similar to the naked eye, so maybe this is a case of eyeballing it to look “right.” However, the whole diagram is obviously positioned too far to the right on the page and should all be moved to the left to centre it properly.

Finally, I think there’s room to clean up and rework the legend to use the top of the page more effectively without leaving that big empty space to the right. C-5 and C-7 could be moved to the last column to even things out – six route lines in each column. This would also allow a bit more vertical space between each entry, making each one a discrete visual element. Lastly, the columns themselves could be wider to fill in that empty space, maybe even to a point where each entry only uses one line instead of sometimes needing two? Arguably, the legend is just as important as the diagram itself, so it’s worth taking the time to really make it look good.

Our final word: A killer concept that puts the official map to shame. It needs some weight added to its bones to make it truly useful and more easily legible. Definitely an idea worth refining!

Submission – Unofficial Map: Arendal Region Transit Map, Norway by Hazael

August 27, 2024
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Hi! I made this transit diagram myself. I saw there was no “real” map with all the stations for the region of Arendal in Norway, so I decided to do this project. I would love to read your comments and criticisms!

Transit Maps says:

There’s a lot to like about this diagram – a nice pseudo-isometric effect with clean and simplified geography, an excellently-executed magnified inset overview of the Arendal bus terminal, and a comprehensive legend that fills the “dead” space of the map nicely. That said, I think there’s some room for improvement in a couple of areas:

First, the rush hour only services are too small and hard to make out compared to the other frequencies. The line used to depict them is too thin to follow easily, the station markers are hard to see, and the type used to label them is very small. Generally, I don’t like to use too many different type sizes on a map, preferring to let the weight of the font do the work for me: bold versus regular, etc. I feel that different type sizes can create an unbalanced design, with some labels becoming hard to read and others LITERALLY SHOUTING AT YOU. In this instance, it also leads to oddities like Bjorbekk loudly proclaiming that it’s a “main stop” when its next to two tiny little station markers, one of which is almost invisible. There’s a visual disconnect between the elements that creates confusion for the reader.

The diagram also feels a little unfinished around the edges. Where do the lines that leave the map go? Why do the lines heading off to the top right corner just end? Arrowheads and “To:” labels would be really helpful here.

Our final word: The framework is excellent, the information hierarchy just needs a bit more attention. Perhaps look at different ways to depict those rush hour only services – generally, they tend to be frequent but only run for limited periods, so perhaps a thicker dashed or cased line could work?

Submission – Historical Map: Relief Map of Street Railway System in Pittsburgh and Vicinity, 1910

August 16, 2024
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Submitted by Marc, who says:

Hi ! I enjoy the historical maps, especially. Here’s my all-time favorite historical map — a hand-made relief map of the Pittsburgh streetcar system, from 1910.

Transit Maps says:

Oh, I just love this, Marc! This fantastic map was included as part of a “Report on the Pittsburgh Transportation Problem” submitted to the mayor of Pittsburgh, William A. Magee, by consulting engineer Bion J. Arnold in December 1910, and the craftsmanship is altogether something wonderful. The map – or more precisely, a photograph of a superb three-dimensional model – simply shows the elevation along the routes of Pittsburgh’s street railways, with some spot heights labelled at important points. Altogether, it neatly and beautifully illustrates the biggest problem facing street railway transportation in Pittsburgh – the mountainous terrain surrounding the downtown core. The benefit provided by the Mount Washington tunnel – opened in 1904 and still in use by transit today – is noted in the narrative underneath the photograph of the map. If you look closely, you can see that some of the lines shown here still exist as part of Pittsburgh’s light rail system even today. The location of all the car barns, power houses and electrical substations are also shown on the map, though many of them are obscured in his photograph of the model.

The map does remind me of two other items in the Transit Maps archives. First, this astonishing relief map of the Pacific Electric streetcar system in and around Los Angeles in 1920. Like this map, a photograph was taken of a physical model, although in this case, the route lines were added to a print of that photograph and hand-tinted red. And then there’s this diagram from Frankfurt in 1913, which looks very similar to this map, but uses the relief along each line to indicate the number of passengers in that segment of track.

Here’s the text from underneath the map, reproduced for easy reading:

This is a photographic reproduction of a model showing both the location and elevation of the various routes of comprising the street railway tracks of the Pittsburgh Railway Company. The map is laid out on a horizontal scale of 2000 feet to the inch, and the elevations on a vertical scale of 200 feet to the inch (measured above normal river level). From this photograph the elevations can only be judged in perspective. It will, however, be apparent at a glance that transportation over the streets of Pittsburgh is accomplished with unusual difficulties. As the great majority of passenger traffic centers in the low lying “Point District,” nearly every line reaching the suburbs is obliged to ascend heavy grades, with the exception of the Second Avenue line to Homestead, the Penn Avenue and Butler Street line to Aspinwall, and the West Carson Street line to McKees Rocks. Pittsburgh’s most direct line to the east end – via Center Avenue – is handicapped by one of the worst hills, likewise the Federal Street-Perrysville Avenue line to Riverview Park District. The low level tunnel under Mt. Washington has evidently been the greatest benefit in reaching the South Hills suburban district and providing convenient interurban connections to the towns South of Pittsburgh.

Our final word: Phenomenal! I can’t even imagine the amount of time it took to conceive, design and fabricate this model – craftsmanship at its best!

Source: Hathitrust.org (includes the complete report if you fancy a read!)