A few requests for a review of this major revision of the Bay Area’s BART map, so here goes…
This map is meant to be deployed when service to Milpitas and Berryessa begins, so it won’t be seen immediately – but it’s good that BART is planning ahead and getting this work done ahead of time.
Generally, there’s a lot to like about this iteration – the stylised coastline suits the schematic treatment of the route lines far better than the old pseudo-geographic approach, for example. The Oakland Airport transfer at Coliseum is treated the same way as other transfers now, rather than the awkward way that a terminus bar butted up to the interchange circles in the previous map.
It’s nice to see all the other rail transit options in the Bay Area on the map (ACE and VTA light rail have been added since the last edition), although I feel that the different line thicknesses (apparently to indicate level of service) are executed a little clumsily and are perhaps unnecessary on a map of this scope. At least this revision of the map corrects an error from a previous draft that had Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin services diverging in the wrong place.
Because of the extra spacing given to BART services down the peninsula to Millbrae, the Caltrain stations south of that point get jammed together very tightly, which isn’t ideal. I’m also not overly impressed with the blobby station markers used for these secondary services, as their size changes depending on the line thickness: at Santa Clara and Diridon, there are three different dot sizes adjacent to each other, which looks pretty haphazard.
Finally, although the new octolinear diagram looks fine, I do miss the distinctive slanted hexagonal treatment of the previous map… it was a distinctive design element that suited the layout of the network particularly well and set the BART map apart from so many other maps around the world.
Our final word: Looking to the future with some style. The area around San Jose will probably be revisited and revised as services come online in the future. Three-and-a-half stars.
Source: BART website
I’m generally happy with the changes made with the new map, especially the coastline being simplified. There are still some improvements to be made, though – some stylistic, and some functional. Most you’ve already covered; here are my nitpicks:
Tamien station is completely missing, and Capitol and Blossom Hill should be added to match the area shown. If Livermore station is shown, then nearby Vasco Road should be as well. Berkeley, Hayward, and Antioch-Pittsburg stations should be moved so match their actual positions relative to BART; same with the end of the Muni T line relative to Bayshore. The north end of the Central Subway, the Alum Rock end of VTA light rail, and all of the western half of Muni Metro are badly distorted. I get that the intention was to minimize them crossing labels, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of some wonky turns. Also, why is San Jose accented in the station names, but not on the blue label?
Stylistically, I feel like more could have been done with the thinner route lines by putting less space between them. That could have allowed for a westward curve to more accurately place Daly City, and perhaps have the Rockridge-Lafayette and Walnut Creek-North Concord segments on different angles to be more true to life. I’m not convinced that the rail interchange icons are needed – shouldn’t that be obvious from the map?
The label for the part-time Millbrae service is clumsy, and the interchange for Antioch service is awful. That should have a pair of end caps to indicate the need to change trains.
BART’s information for the SFO-Millbrae shuttle is confusing on maps and schedules; it’s not consistently indicated whether it’s a cross-platform transfer or interlined. (The Sunday map supposedly shows interlining, in a way that I think is not clear at all.) If the shuttle is now running at all times, I don’t think that transfers will be made at San Bruno.
Would be helpful to have a chart that provides general corresponding commute times from point to point during peak & non peak commute hours.