Author: Cameron Booth

Fantasy Map: Major Rivers of the United States by Theodore Rindos

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Fantasy Maps

The early history of the United States is filled with explorers and pioneers making use of rivers as “rapid transit” to quickly travel through otherwise inhospitable or unknown lands. So it makes sense that someone would attempt to show this network in the simplified form of a subway map, and here is one such example by Theo Rindos. Of course, such a map instantly puts me in mind of Daniel Huffman’s superb series of river/subway maps, […]

Submission – Illustrated map of Qingdao Metro’s Line 3, China

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Official Maps

Submitted by Bailey, who says: Here’s a map from of the Qingdao Metro for Line 3 – quite an interesting, stylistic one. For all the effort that went into the (quite brilliant) artwork, I’m surprised the station names are entirely unreadable near the city center. Transit Maps says: Despite the name, Line 3 is actually the first Metro line constructed in Qingdao, opening in two stages from 2015. In typical Chinese style, it’ll be joined […]

Historical Map: Manchester Ship Canal, England, c. 1928?

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Historical Maps

Not a “traditional” transit map, but it does show an important transportation network in a simplified strip map form, so that’s good enough for me!  This absolutely gorgeous two-colour map straightens out all the kinks in the eponymous canal, presenting it as a dead straight line from one end to the other. The variable scale is indicated by the mile markers on either side of the map: the less interesting parts of the canal get […]

Historical Map: 1967 San Francisco Muni Rapid Transit Plan

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Historical Maps

I’m ever so slightly in love with this simple little map showing proposed rapid transit lines in San Francisco. There’s some lovely texture for the parkland, a nice vignetted effect for the coastline, and some great mid-century typography as well – all rather delightful!  There’s a great information hierarchy as well, with buses being thin light blue lines, then trolley buses slightly thicker brown lines. Cable cars are shown by thin black lines that still […]

Submission – Official Map: Metro de Santiago, Chile, 2017

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Submitted by moon-monolith, who says: This is the current map (as of May ‘17). This version has the definitive design for the newer lines under construction (Line 3 and Line 6). And finally, they’ve decided not to include the airport on the map, even tho’ there’s some rumors floating around that a planned extension of Line 1 or a new “Line 7” could reach it once and for all. Transit Maps says: This is a […]

Submission – Yorkshire Tourist Bus Map by Best Impressions

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Submitted by Ray, who says: Here’s Best Impressions’ new tourist bus map for encouraging people to get out and about to explore Yorkshire using the Transdev bus network. The map is intended to highlight the richness of attractions and destinations in a pictorial style. It’s included in our our “Amazing Days in Yorkshire” leaflet, just released. Transit Maps says: While I don’t want to get in the habit of acting as a PR agent for […]

Submission – New Houston METRORail Strip Map, 2017

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Official Maps

Photo submitted by Gram Brinson, who says: They’ve somewhat improved it, I suppose… Transit Maps says: Yes, this is certainly an improvement over the previous version of this strip map (October 2016, 1.5 stars). In fact, it’s an almost point-for-point response to my criticisms from that review: removal of the large shaded areas denoting not-so-new lines, 45-degree angled labels instead of the neck-cracking 90-degree angles, and a very welcome reworking of the central stations inset […]

Fantasy Map: Roman Roads in 125AD as a Subway Map by Sasha Trubetskoy

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Fantasy Maps

Here’s a map that’s right up my alley (I actually really wish I’d thought of doing it myself!) – a superb visualization of the major Roman roads of the second century AD. The legendary straightness of Roman roads makes them a great candidate for this style of diagram, and Sasha’s made it look very attractive, with a lovely colour palette and distinctive station dots. The very official-looking Roman Empire logos at the bottom left are […]

Submission – Historical Maps: Trolleybus and Tram Diagrams of Kaliningrad, USSR, 1990

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Historical Maps

Sent my way by Kyril Negoda are these two rather delightful little diagrams of trolleybus and tram services in Kaliningrad in 1990. This was just before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, so Kaliningrad Oblast was still physically connected to the rest of the USSR, rather than being an exclave like it is today. Stylistically, the diagrams are very similar and have a pleasant, slightly childlike feeling to them. This is aided by […]

GIF: The Evolution of Metro Systems in China and Taipei, 1990–2020 by Peter Dovak

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Miscellany

In the USA, new transit takes time. Whether it’s Environmental Impact Statements that take seven years to write, or tunnel boring machines that take longer than expected to do their work, or lawsuits from people angry that light rail might take away one of their beloved exit ramps, or mayors who want to rip up new streetcar tracks after they’ve been installed… the list goes on. China, however, is a completely different matter… as this […]