May 1, 2021 marks Amtrak’s 50th anniversary! On that day in 1971, most regional and long-distance trains in the United States either disappeared or became part of the new national rail carrier’s network (there were some exceptions to this rule, which we’ll get to later). While there are plenty of maps out there that show the general extent of Amtrak’s nascent system — including one that I made myself as part of an historical series […]
Submitted by Adam, who says: Here’s my proposal for a low-floor LRT system in Downtown, West Palm Beach, FL (pop. ~110,000). It’s fun to think about as West Palm actually grew up as a fairly dense railroad town in the 1920s around the Seaboard and FEC stations. Wedged between two large lakes and the intercoastal waterway, the downtown is a fairly dense north-south oriented grid, with a mix of historic homes and apartment towers. The […]
Submitted by Nick, who writes: Hi Cameron — hope you’re staying well these days. I’m pleased to submit two maps I made to capture the North Atlantic Rail System. The system is a proposed high-speed rail network to connect New England’s major hubs. In my map, I imagine it connecting to and interacting with the existing CT Rail, MBTA Commuter Rail, and Amtrak systems throughout the region. Taken in totality, you see a much more transitable […]
Submitted by Daniel, who says: I’d like to submit the official map of the tram network of the Upper Silesian urban area, also known as Katowice urban area. The network currently consists of 29 lines spanning 13 cities and over 300km of single track, making it one of the largest in the world. The map in addition to trams also depicts a few bus replacement services due to extensive renovations of rail infrastructure. What is […]
Here’s a fantastic poster designed as the centre spread of an advertising supplement to various Bay Area newspapers to celebrate the first ten years of BART (1972–1982). The immediately recognisable system diagram is overlaid on top of some charming line illustrations of landmarks and attractions, with the routes of BART Express buses also indicated. It’s all very simple – the illustration looks like it’s been done with some coloured fine felt-tip pens – but it’s […]
Old streetcar maps often do a very poor job of actually showing how the routes ran – often just drawing an otherwise unmarked red line down the middle of roads on a standard cartographic map without any explanation of stops, loops or route names (see left for an example). Finding accurate information about the actual routing of individual lines can be a long and thankless process, so when long-time Transit Maps correspondent Karl Otterstrom tweeted […]
Submitted by Roberto, who says: I just wanted to share with you the official map of the buses (MetroBus) that link the city of Valencia (Spain) with towns of its metropolitan area. Map by the Valencia Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATMV). Transit Maps says: Oh dear. This is… bad. MetroBus (a collective term for all the metropolitan buses run by various operating companies in and around Valencia) operates over 100 routes, but you’d be hard pressed […]
Perhaps because of post-war austerity measures, this map was printed with just two inks – green and black – but still manages to do a lot of really good work. The radial nature of the Green Line network definitely makes things easier for the designer, as only a few of the routes really interact with others as they spread inexorably outwards from the map’s centre. The large route numbers at each terminus are great, as […]
Submitted by Travis, who says: I made an animated visualization of the light rail infrastructure of San Francisco from 1850–to–nowish. I was wondering if you would be interested in posting! Transit Maps says: I sure would be, Travis! This is a great 15-minute video that succinctly outlines the rise and fall of rail-based street transit in San Francisco, Oakland and even Marin County. The sheer number of competing companies in the early years is quite […]
Submitted by Avian, who says: Hello Cameron! Last week my WiFi was out so I was disrupted from my usual cartographic routine and decided try something outside the box. What I ended up coming up with was this cartogram showing travel time between light rail stations in the Twin Cities. I always find it to be a creature comfort when transit maps tell me travel time between stations, and it can really highlight some advantages […]
