Submitted by Jessie Archer (who I note has an “appalcart.com” email address, so possibly had something to do with the creation of this map).

Transit Maps says:

First off, can we just note how awesome “AppalCART” is as a transit system name for a city in this part of North Carolina? Possibly one of my favourites ever.

At first look, this is a reasonably attractive bus system map, especially for a smaller transit agency but it does feel a little rough and unfinished overall. 

The stylised framework of the map is fine, but I’m not entirely sure that every little street and road in Boone needs to be shown in such detail – it feels a little busy and unnecessary. My general feeling is that a map like this should only show major arterial roads and those that the buses actually travel on. If the road doesn’t merit a label, then its inclusion is debatable.

There’s a few contrast issues with the route lines and the background, especially the light blue “Express” route, which almost completely disappears. While the palette of colours is quite pleasing, the route lines really could stand to be just a bit brighter in order to make them “pop” from the background.

The spacing in between concurrent route lines is perhaps too wide, being almost as wide as the route lines themselves. This prevents adjacent lines being read as a coherent whole travelling along a single road, especially in the busier central portion of the map.

I’m also not convinced that the map’s solution for directional stops – one that requires a detailed explanation in the map’s legend – actually works that well. Most maps solve this by using arrows at each stop to indicate the direction of travel (with a dot or double-headed arrow for bi-directional travel), which is more instantly obvious to the reader. Working out which side of the road is the “left” or “right” is way too mentally taxing, especially when the routes travel in every direction.

I’d also like to see labels on the parks, actual depictions of the college’s football and baseball stadiums, and perhaps a shaded area denoting the main ASU campus as well.

Our rating: Definitely has the potential to be really good – it certainly has a lot of the right elements – but this feels like a second or third draft that needs some more refinement and polish to really sing. Two stars.