Submitted by Alain, who says:
The latest iteration of my Amsterdam tram map. I’ve been working on this map almost continuously since its inception in 2004. I made the original map in MS Paint and switched to Adobe Illustrator in 2007. When I did, I also decided to upload the map to Wikipedia. It featured on almost all Wikipedia lemmas about the Amsterdam tram system until earlier this year, when someone decided to replace the map with another one. Out with the old, in with the new, I guess. That hasn’t stopped me from contributing new versions, though.
As the file history shows [at the bottom of this Wikimedia Commons page – Cam], the map has gone through various major and minor design changes over the last nine years. I switched the background color from light to dark to light again, made various changes to the line layout, experimented with different solutions to show in-system transfers and transfers between the tram and metro system, changed the design of the line overview, etc. The changes are too numerous to sum them all up. It’s what I like most about map designing: the broader strokes are usually being set early on in the design process, but it’s the almost endless range of possibilities of portraying a certain piece of information that allows for endless iterations.
Transit Maps says:
This is a good, solid diagrammatic map, Alain – definitely forged and refined through multiple iterations over the years. It’s certainly come a long way even since your initial Wikipedia version from 2007 (red text on a purple background: what were you thinking?).
That said, I think there’s still some room for further improvement, especially with the interchanges. The concept behind a bounding box indicating a major interchange is sound – and a refreshing change from Underground-style circles or dumbbells – but the box can be a bit hard to make out at stops with multiple lines passing through it. The stops west of Dam on the 12/13/14 lines illustrate what I’m talking about here. Perhaps bringing the boxes to the top of the stacking order would help them remain visible, or the size of the box could be adjusted to properly enclose all the relevant routes.
Transfers between tram lines and the Metro are also a little problematic: I feel that the “tick” used for Metro stations sits a little awkwardly within the bounding box. Maybe a black circle could work, or – as previous versions used – a circle with an “M” for Metro could be employed.
I’m also not entirely sold on the need to differentiate between the Metro and “sneltram” parts of the 51 Metro line: it seems to me to be an operational consideration that doesn’t really affect the users of the system. You get on the train at Centraal Station, you get off the same train at Amstelveen… the change of power supply from overhead to third rail at Station Zuid doesn’t affect the journey from a wayfinding perspective at all.
Finally, I think more care could be given to some of the labelling. Hyphenation should be used as an absolute last resort on a transit map and I see too much of it here. Line breaks should also be optimised to enhance readability of stop/station names. For example:
2e v.d. Helst-
straat
would read better as:
2e van der
Helststraat
and the awkwardly three-lined
Ceintuur-
baan/Van
Wousstraat
has plenty of space to be reconfigured into the much more readable:
Ceintuurbaan/
Van Woosstraat
Our rating: Overall, I do like this map: it’s clean, simple and generally easy to use. The shape of the routes themselves evoke Amsterdam’s famous canals, even without geographical clues. Some more finessing (what’s a little more after 12 years, Alain?) and this could be really lovely. 3 stars.