Month: September 2015

Official “Map”: Portland Streetcar Conceptual Diagram

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While I may be undecided about certain elements of the new official Portland Streetcar map, I do quite like this simple little diagram that can be found on their website. With a minimum of fuss, it shows the two new loop lines, the two bridges they cross over the Willamette River on and the four distinct neighbourhoods that they link together. Okay, so the NS Line looks a little vestigial, but let’s let the loop […]

Official Map: Portland Streetcar, 2015

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Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the new MAX light rail Orange Line, it’s easy to forget that Portland’s streetcar is now also running over the new Tilikum Crossing bridge. They’ve taken this opportunity to rework their system map to bring it more in line with their new branding – check out the rather nice new logo at the top left of the map, which doesn’t look half bad on the streetcars themselves. […]

Submission – Photo: Cross-section of Brussels Midi/Zuid Station Complex

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Cutaway Maps, Historical Maps

Submitted by Piotr Ingling, who says: Not exactly a transit map but seeing your post with NY subway stations drawings recalled me this one. It’s a photo that I took in Dec 2004 – unfortunately it seems that the board has been removed long time ago during renovation works. I hope it is preserved somewhere. There are two levels here for metro and trams (underground part of tram network is called pre-metro as it’s ready […]

Official Map: Geographical “London Connections” Map by TfL

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Here’s a map that’s been doing the rounds over the last few days, and has now been sent my way by many, many readers (Thanks to all of you!). Compared to the familiar standard Tube map, It’s a more geographically accurate map of rail services in and around London (as of late 2014), and opinions on it seem to be quite divided. Some people think it’s more useful than the normal Tube map, some think […]

Unofficial Maps: Axonometric Projections of NY Subay Stations by Candy Chan

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Unofficial Maps

I’m really liking these fantastic axonometric projections of New York Subway station complexes by architect Candy Chan.  This type of view isn’t anything revolutionary or new – see this fabulous diagram of London’s Piccadilly Circus tube station from 1929, for example – but these are all executed very deftly. The cleverly exaggerated vertical scale does a good job of preventing upper platforms and mezzanine levels from obscuring important detail below them, while the street level […]

Submission – Historical Map: The Routes of Imperial Airways and of Associated Companies, 1936

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Historical Maps

Submitted by Mattias Lq, who says: I know how you don’t like many airway maps trying to be schematic, but this one is a rather successful combination of a simplified geographical map and a schematic inset showing frequencies throughout the year. Although it has some minor beauty flaws here and there, it is really a beautiful map, especially considering the five colours used to print the map! What do you say? Transit Maps says: Mattias, […]

34th St-Hudson Yards Station Added to MTA’s “Weekender” Map

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Reader Chris Bastian notes that the 7 Line’s extension to 34th Street-Hudson Yards (that opened today!) has been added to MTA’s Vignelli-style “Weekender” map. I’ll say that it looks pretty good, but Vignelli’s famous “one dot equals one stop” principle seems to have been broken at Times Sq/42nd and Grand Central/42nd, where one dot now seems to serve both the “S” and the “7″. Compare the “S” to the “L”, which has its own terminus dot at the 14th Av/8th […]

Photo: Portland TriMet MAX Light Rail “Catch the Orange” Promotional Map

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Portland’s new Orange Line light rail opens tomorrow!  And while I’m excited, I’ve long wondered why exactly it’s being called the Orange Line instead of just being an extension of the Yellow Line. I’ve heard mutterings that it allows operational flexibility – with some northbound Orange Line trains becoming Green Line trains if demand requires it – but that’s always seemed like pretty weak reasoning to me. And this promotional map almost entirely abandons that idea […]

Submission – Official Map: Transit of Geneva, Switzerland, 2015

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Submitted by Nicholas, who says: Please take a look at the transit map of Geneva ! It’s beautiful. It includes streetcars and all buses. Transit Maps says: Okay, Nicholas, I will!  I even know who designed this map: it’s a collaboration between designer Andrea Forgacs and architect Oscar Buson, and seems to be part of a suite of maps that include the urban core (this map), the greater suburban area, a night services map and […]

Official Map: Tram Network of Chelyabinsk, Russia by Ilya Birman and Alexander Karavaev

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This brand new map was sent my way by quite a few people last week, so here it is! If the name “Ilya Birman” sounds familiar, it’s because his map of the Moscow Metro came second in the design competition a few years ago that was eventually won by Art Lebedev Studios. I wrote about Ilya’s entry here at the time. Now, Ilya and designer Alexander Karavaev have turned their attention to the tram network […]