Author: Cameron Booth

Unofficial Map: Dodecalinear Amsterdam Tram Map, by Joan Zalacain

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Unofficial Maps

“Dodecalinear” is fancy designer-speak for a 30-degree grid: it refers to the fact that the route lines can be laid out in twelve directions instead of the eight allowed by a standard 45-degree or octolinear map. To put it in simpler terms: imagine six lines that pass through a central point – from that point, you can now travel in any of twelve directions. Technically, you can use any combination of opposing angles and still […]

Photo: Slope

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Miscellany

The Lyon Metro map (March 2012, 4 stars) on the platform at Croix-Paquet station – reputedly the steepest Metro station in the world, with a 17 percent grade! Although nominally part of Lyon’s Metro system, the “C” Line is really a refurbished rack-and-pinion funicular, with the earliest trains running as far back as 1891. Source: BrusselsBen/Flickr

Submission – Official Map: Bus and Ferry Network of the Faroe Islands, 2013

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Official Maps

Submitted by Helgi Waag, who says: The entire bus and ferry system of the Faroe Islands. The online version is interactive. Hubs are in boxes and sea routes in blue. The Faroe Islands – a remote island nation under Denmark’s sovereignty located about halfway between Norway and Iceland – isn’t necessarily somewhere you associate with a bustling and modern transportation network, but here it is! This map shows the Bygdaleiðir, or “village buses”, which connect the […]

Submission – Global Subway Spectrum by Nick Rougeux

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Visualizations

Submitted by Nick, who says: I’ve been following your blog for a little while now and have really enjoyed your posts on transit maps – both familiar and completely new to me. I’ve recently become interested in different ways of looking at maps from a data standpoint. I’ve attached a screenshot of a project I just released that I thought you or your readers may enjoy. It’s not a map or diagram but it’s a […]

Official Future Map: Los Angeles Metro Rail

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Future Maps

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency released a “under construction”  map yesterday, showing all the lines that are planned for the near future: Expo Line Phase 2, Gold Line Foothill Extension, the Crenshaw/LAX Line, Purple Line Extension and the ambitious downtown Regional Connector. Overall, the map fits quite well into the existing LA Metro design aesthetic, although the crowded downtown area is now starting to make the station labelling look a little cramped and […]

Historical Map: National Railways of Zimbabwe, c. 1985

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Historical Maps

A pretty basic two-colour map of the (then newly-independent) Zimbabwe’s rail network produced by the government’s Land Survey Office. Once you look past the eye-searing red ink and “transportation” clip art, there’s a couple of interesting things on the map. Firstly, the map actually does a pretty good job of showing how Zimbabwe’s rail network fits in with other connecting rail services in southern Africa. Secondly, it shows an interesting colonial oddity: the Zimbabwe National […]

Official Map: RENFE Cercanías Madrid Commuter Rail, 2013

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Official Maps

Following on my review of Madrid’s old-is-new Metro Map (June 2013, 3.5 stars), I’ve had quite a few requests for Madrid’s commuter rail map, operated by the state-owned RENFE rail company – so here it is! The map is a very solid effort, with unusual but effective station markers: small squares that “cut through” the route lines. The overall design is very angular, with no smoothing of the route lines or the zone boundaries that […]

File Under Awesome: London Tube Map Recreated With Lego Bricks

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Sent my way by just about everyone this morning, this Lego map is one of five located at Tube stations across London as another part of the Tube’s 150th birthday celebrations. Each map shows the Tube at a different stage of development from the 1920s right through to the version shown here: a near-future map for 2020. Painstakingly assembled from thousands of Lego bricks, the map looks great, although Neil Bennett from Digital Arts notes […]

Historical Map: Indicateur d’Itinéraires, Paris, c. 2003

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Historical Maps

An old-school interactive Metro map in Paris. Simply press one of the 360 or so buttons underneath the map, and a path lights up from your current location to your chosen destination. Who needs a fancy touch screen kiosk? I particularly like the way that the furtherest reaches of the RER lines are compressed into diagrammatic form to allow the centre of Paris to be shown as large as possible. This particular example is still […]