Month: January 2017

Submission – Official Map: New York MTA Connections to LaGuardia Airport

January 26, 2017
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Submitted by Henry, who says: I stumbled upon this diagram of MTA services available from the MTA. While the general positioning of the lines looks like it’s very clean and has very good bones, the small design decisions (like the shape of transfer points to subway and commuter rail, the rail tickmarks, etc.) make this map feel very cheap and tacky. Transit Maps says: I’m not really feeling this map at all, Henry… not the […]

Submission – Strip Map for the New Moscow Central Circle Line by ArtLebedev Studios

January 23, 2017
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Submitted by Sergey, who also drew my attention to the recently-revised schematic for the entire Moscow Metro as well. However, this new strip map for the Central Circle Line really caught my eye, as it’s a fascinating approach to solving a very difficult problem: how do you concisely show a loop line (with a lot of stations!) in the narrow confines of a railcar strip map? ArtLebedev’s solution is to view the circular line from […]

Submission – Helsinki Metro Map, 1982 versus Current Map

January 18, 2017
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Submitted by sailsandrails, who says: I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while: what is your opinion of the original styling of Helsinki’s Metro map? (Photo taken from this site, unfortunately I couldn’t find a better one). After several revisions, the current version looks like this, which is more international in style. Personally, I think the original is surprisingly readable while being pleasantly unique in style, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. […]

Project: 1954 Manhattan Rapid Transit Flow Diagram Digital Recreation

January 17, 2017
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I’ve long admired this beautiful 1954 flow diagram of subway service into Manhattan during the morning peak hour, so I set myself the personal challenge of recreating it using modern design tools (Adobe Illustrator) while still staying true to the original principles of the map. While it was certainly possible to just trace the source material in Illustrator with the pen tool and end up with a decent facsimile of the original, there’s really nothing to […]

Historical Map: Sydney Rail Transport System Strip Map, c. mid-1970s

January 6, 2017
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Here’s a great old system map of Sydney’s suburban rail system from around the middle of the 1970s. It has to be from before 1978, as that’s the year that the Eastern Suburbs line opened, and it’s not shown here. I distinctly remember seeing a few of these in old “Red Rattler” carriages in the mid-to-late 1980s, so they lived on well past their “use by” date. As seen here, the maps lived above the windows […]

Submission – Fantasy Map: Los Angeles Metro in the Style of the 1972 New York Subway Map by Cullen McCormick

January 4, 2017
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Submitted by Cullen, who says: A few months back you answered a question of mine with some tips for preparing artwork for inkjet printing. Everything printed great, so thanks again for your help! Thought you might enjoy seeing the finished map. Transit Maps says: I always say that if you’re going to do an “in the style of” map, you should aim to replicate the source as closely as possible. That’s how you learn what made […]

Official Map: Victorian Train Network, Australia, 2017

January 4, 2017
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I’ve got a whole slew of requests for a review of this recently released map, so hold onto your hats! First off, this map is the final result of a three year process – Transit Maps reviewed an initial concept back in April 2014 – so it’s definitely taken a while to reach this final form. The gradual adoption of a new corporate identity for Public Transport Victoria (PTV), complete with a custom typeface called […]

Official Map: Commemorative Second Avenue Subway Vignelli Diagram

January 4, 2017
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Hey, everyone! Happy New Year! Thanks to just about everyone for sending me pictures of this commemorative Vignelli-style New York subway diagram that was released when the Second Avenue Subway (finally) opened. My spies on the ground in New York are sending me a physical copy as we speak, which is awesome. This revised design was carried out by Massimo Vignelli’s proteges, Beatriz Cifuentes and Yoshiki Waterhouse, who have been entrusted with the stewardship of […]