Submitted by Zeroplate, who says: I was in Fukuoka this summer and couldn’t help but admire the icons that the subway lines used to mark each station. Some like the elephant and the ramen bowl tied clearly to local attractions. Others pointed to historical or geographical notes about the city. Still others I never figured out. Since each station in the main part of town was labeled with kanji, hiragana, Roman letters, and an icon, […]
Submitted by Chris Bastian, who says: Houston light rail map (2016); one core line (red); two spurs (green/purple) with planned extensions shown. Transit Maps says: I can understand that METRO is proud of their two new lines, but at this point they’ve been open for almost a year and a half. I think we can lose the awkward “NOW OPEN” shaded boxes now and reserve that treatment solely for the future two-station extension to the Green […]
Remember back in August when the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) asked for the public’s input on where future subways in the city might run by means of an interactive “draw a subway map” tool? Well, they’ve just released the collated results of that survey – which had some 2,600 respondents – as a heat map, and the results are certainly definitive. It would seem that almost everyone wants a subway line along the […]
Submitted by lukasmaps, who says: I think I’m gonna hurl… Shows buses, but NOT the Metromover? Come on. Transit Maps says: Well, it at least shows the stations that you can transfer to the Metromover at (all two of them), so it’s kind of on par with the buses – no actual bus routes are shown, just a list of numbers at each station. Showing the Metromover on this map is problematic because of the disparate […]
I’ve often lamented that Sydney’s transit maps each seem to live in a “mode vacuum”, where each individual map steadfastly refuses to acknowledge any other mode of transit, even though they’re all operated by the same agency. So the light rail map won’t show any connections to the main Sydney Train network, and the ferry map ignores the major train station located directly behind Circular Quay… that kind of stuff. Unfortunately, this new attempt at an […]
Hey, the Cincinnati Streetcar – sorry, the corporate branded “Cincinnati Bell Connector” – opened today! It’ll run for free over the weekend, with fares to be paid from Monday onwards. This is notable because it really looked like this streetcar would never get off the ground, what with anti-streetcar ballot initiatives, opposition from Ohio’s Governor John Kasich, and a mayor in John Cranley who threatened to cancel the project and literally tear up a section of […]
The Los Angeles Metro opened up a new beta version of its website for public review today. The first noticeable thing is that the interactive system map is front and centre on the home page – the very first thing that you see upon entering the site. No having to click through to the deepest depths of the website just to find a map here, something too many agencies still insist on doing. It’s still […]
Here’s some interesting isometric-style maps that crossed my desk the other day. They’re part of a series of maps from the Sound Transit Federal Way Link Extension Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Summary that outline all the proposed potential alignments from the soon-to-be-completed Angle Lake station south to Federal Way. I believe that the maps were produced by HDR as a consultant to Sound Transit, and they do quite a nice job of comparing and […]
Submitted by Mike Christensen, who says: The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) recently added strip maps to its FrontRunner commuter rail trains. At first glance, the maps looked adequate to me. But after a few moments of thought, I have the following critique. First off, the N and S denoting north and south at the end of the route is a bit confusing. However, the biggest criticism I have is the lost opportunity to show connecting […]
Suddenly, it seems that “draw-your-own” subway maps are all the rage. Hot on the heels of Jason Wright’s fun Brand New Subway game comes this slightly more serious planning tool released by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in conjunction with other local authorities. The stated goal of the tool is simple: Where do you want subway transit in SF? Just draw lines on the map where you want ‘em to go, add some stations and […]
