All posts filed under: Official Maps

Submission – Official Map: UTA FrontRunner Commuter Rail, Salt Lake City, 2016

August 25, 2016
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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 […]

Official Map: “Draw Your Own” Future SFMTA Transit Map

August 19, 2016
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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 […]

Submission – Official Map: the Carmelit Underground Funicular, Haifa, Israel

August 17, 2016
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Submitted by Adam Susaneck, who says: My favorite from Israel: the Carmelit. The Carmelit is an underground funicular in Haifa, Israel, which traverses the city’s primary geographic feature, Mt. Carmel. The Carmelit, opened in 1959, is one of the world’s shortest subways at only just over a mile, and is the only subway in Israel. The map shows notable attractions near each stop. Transit Maps says: This is a great submission, Adam. It combines two […]

Official Map: Montgomery County DOT Metrorail SafeTrack Map for August 9–18, 2016

August 8, 2016
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While the purpose is noble – to inform riders of alternative transportation methods while vital trackwork is performed on Metro’s Red Line – this map is a hideous mess. I certainly doubt that Lance Wyman would approve of any of the additions, which look like they’ve been simply slapped on in Word or PowerPoint (the use of the standard Windows typeface Calibri certainly points that direction, anyway).  The wobbly lime green MARC route line (with […]

Submission  – Official Map: Unified Rio de Janeiro Olympics Transit Map, 2016

August 7, 2016
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Submitted by Pedro, who says: Rio de Janeiro City Hall made a new transit map! It’s the first official map of the city that shows all the options, including the new LRT line and the Olympic-exclusive lines. What do you think about it? Transit Maps says: Well, it’s certainly an improvement over the old Metro-only map (May 2012, 2 stars), and it’s always nice to see a map that integrates different transportation modes. Here, I […]

Submission – Official Map: Whippet Buses, Cambridgeshire, England

July 15, 2016
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Submitted by Tim C, who says: Here’s the route map of Whippet, Cambridgeshire’s “other” bus company. Frankly their route map is a far better effort than Stagecoaches! Brilliantly, their small buses are called Whippet Puppy, and when out of service their matrix displays say “Woof!” which is just fantastic. Transit Maps says: There’s a definite aesthetic appeal to this map, with an intelligent use of 30-degree angles and a nice hierarchy between the coloured (main) routes […]

Submission – Official Map: Multimodal Transit Map for Utrecht, The Netherlands by Jug Cerovic

July 15, 2016
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Submitted by the author, who says: Dear Cameron, You’ll be happy to hear that my Luxembourg map is having a beneficial influence on the neighbouring communities. U-OV, the company operating buses and trams in Utrecht, Netherlands, recently commissioned me to build a new map for Utrecht based on the previous Luxembourg experience. This gave me the opportunity to explore all concepts further and since this week the new map is official and live 🙂 Here […]

Photo – Official Map: New CTrain System Map, Calgary, Canada, 2016

July 6, 2016
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Here’s a look at a new system map for Calgary’s CTrain light rail system, as spotted by Natalie Sit when boarding one of the brand new LRVs yesterday. Conceptually and graphically, it’s much better than the previous map (February 2013, 2.5 stars) but there’s also something a little weird about it that I’ll get to later. First things first! The big improvement in this map is the treatment of the downtown area, making it absolutely […]

Photo – Official Map: Strip Map for the Gold Coast Light Rail, Queensland, Australia

June 29, 2016
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Here’s a rare example of an illustrated strip map, used above the doors on the Gold Coast’s G:Link light rail vehicles in Australia. Despite my self-professed preference for clean, minimalist, ordered design, I actually love this map to bits. Why? Because “sense of place” and community are the absolute winners here. The two-colour illustration style is charming and whimsical, while the instantly recognisable landmarks link the whole coast together from north to south. Most importantly, people […]

Photo: Gautrain Strip Map, Gauteng, South Africa, 2010

June 10, 2016
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This has to win some kind of award for “least efficient use of space in a strip map ever”. Let’s see, we’ve got an enormous title, a big picture of the train (that we’re currently on), a giant legend and contact details, and a weird swooshy design feature just to fill up some empty space.  Oh yeah, and a tiny little map that’s  just been repurposed from the main system map without any thought as […]