Here at Transit Maps, we see quite a few unified Bay Area maps. It seems that that the fractured nature of all the different transit agencies in the area seems to frustrate quite a few people, which drives them to try and make something better. The latest is this effort by Adam Susaneck, showing what things could look like in 2050 or so in a perfect world. 

It’s impeccably researched – head on over to this Medium article by Adam where he explains all his inclusions – but the execution falls a little flat for me. Like most other maps that attempt to show the entire Bay Area, there’s a problem with showing both the dense light rail networks – the San Francisco Muni, VTA light rail, and a new light rail system in Oakland – and the sprawling BART and Caltrain networks on the same map. Some parts of the map become very dense and confusing, while there’s a lot of empty space in other parts. It’s a balancing act to get things looking good while still maintaining a sense of geographical placement, but I think this needs a little more finessing to find that balance.

Colouring each service individually works well for differentiating each “operating division” of this newly unified system, but can make it a bit awkward when similar routes split from each other. Adam’s employed a system of route-coded arrows that point in the relevant directions at intersections, which certainly does the job, but isn’t particularly attractive. Similarly, his decision to place route bullets inside major station symbols isn’t quite working. The differing sizes, shapes and colours of the route bullets make them a little awkward to work with in such a confined space. I’m also not an advocate for placing route bullets at an angle, as it makes them just a little harder to read… which isn’t something you want for arguably some of the most important information on the map.

In general, the labelling could use some work to clean up the placement and angles; a little more consistency here would definitely help! Overall, the labels seem very small to me, especially the subtitles underneath station names. Even if this map was blown up to be a 36″ x 36″ print, those subtitles would still be just 5.4pt – that’s like the fine print at the bottom of a used car ad! I’m also not sure why some labels are grouped within a box: it’s certainly not explained in the legend. Outer fare zones? And if you are going to group them, then the last name along the line – Cloverdale, Stockton, Gilroy – should be contained within the box as well. Currently, their station symbol is included, but not their name, which could lead to some confusion.

In short, I love the passion, research and work that’s gone into this – having all the potential expansions from all the different agencies compiled in one place is pretty awesome – but think that Adam could tweak the map a little more to really let his conceptual future be shown more effectively.

Source: Adam Susaneck/Medium