I've long admired this fascinating map of the railway network in and around East Berlin, produced at the tail end of the Cold War in 1989. As is usual, I decided to redraw it in Adobe Illustrator to see what makes it tick.
Submitted by Lucas, who says: This is the official map of Canadian Niagara Falls’s WEGO Bus service. I personally like the way the falls are depicted and the river’s sharp 90 degree turn in the lower right hand corner of the map, which I think serves as a nice visual hook. I don’t really like the way the Orange Line is treated, as it is unclear where exactly it runs and terminates once it merges […]
Q Have you ever seen a ski resort map in the style of a transit map? I was thinking about attempting it, not sure if it is even feasible. A I thought it was pretty much compulsory for every ski resort in the world to have a James Niehues panoramic painting for their resort map, so it’s no surprise that I haven’t actually come across a transit map-styled one yet. The closest I’ve seen are these […]
A federal budget outline from the Trump Administration looks to slash funding for rail transportation, including a complete elimination of federal funds for long-distance Amtrak routes like the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief and California Zephyr. The map above, adapted from my Amtrak as Subway Map project, shows what the “national” passenger rail network could look like under this proposal: isolated, separate rail services, with no cross-country connections and over 220 stations without Amtrak rail service. Chicago, […]
Hey Cameron. It was so interesting to stumble upon a fantasy map of Vitória, Brazil on Transit Maps. The story was very touching to me — just like Frederico, I also moved away from Vitória, and also made a fantasy map of its transit network as a way to connect back to a city I still care so much. My project was supposed to be more artistic than accurate in any way. I finished it […]
Here’s a fantastic (if slightly idealised) view of the then still-under-construction State Street Subway from a c.1940 postcard. This view looks northward along State Street from Adams, and shows the Monroe-Adams mezzanine. Note the direct access from the mezzanine level to the basement level of businesses on either side of State Street – now long since closed. Text on the reverse side of the postcard reads: Cut-away view of Chicago’s subway in the Central Business District. […]
Submitted by James, who says: This is a dream/concept I have for light rail transit in the Harrisburg, PA region. For a rather small metro area, there is pretty bad traffic, and oddly spaced suburban development of varying densities. I believe light rail transit in the region would spur more responsible developments and relieve traffic on both back roads and expressways, while encouraging walking. The system focuses on connecting suburban communities with the central core […]
What appears at first glance to be a street map of Philadelphia in the early 20th century is actually not what it seems. All this map depicts is streetcar track and mainline railroads (in traditional ticked lines), showing how incredibly dense the streetcar network was at the time, especially downtown. Interestingly, a lot of the system appears to be single-track only. Nowadays, only a few vestigial trolley lines recall the days when streetcars reigned supreme […]
Submitted by Greater Auckland, who says: I’d like to submit our new future Auckland regional transit map for a good brutally honest frisking! We follow your blog and you’ll see more than a few design cues have been picked up from your work. This was done by Greater Auckland (formerly TransportBlog) to promote the revised Congestion Free Network Plan. This network plan takes the best parts of the official Auckland multi-decade plan – the rapid […]
Submitted by Frederico, who says: This is a diagram for a fantasy network serving my hometown, Vitória, Brazil – my first try designing a transit map. If you showed this to a local, they would laugh at you – that’s because the city doesn’t have any type of rapid transit (not even bus lanes), even though it has almost 2 million habitants. The local government has been promising a BRT system more or less following […]
