Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the new MAX light rail Orange Line, it’s easy to forget that Portland’s streetcar is now also running over the new Tilikum Crossing bridge. They’ve taken this opportunity to rework their system map to bring it more in line with their new branding – check out the rather nice new logo at the top left of the map, which doesn’t look half bad on the streetcars themselves. […]
Here’s a map that’s been doing the rounds over the last few days, and has now been sent my way by many, many readers (Thanks to all of you!). Compared to the familiar standard Tube map, It’s a more geographically accurate map of rail services in and around London (as of late 2014), and opinions on it seem to be quite divided. Some people think it’s more useful than the normal Tube map, some think […]
Reader Chris Bastian notes that the 7 Line’s extension to 34th Street-Hudson Yards (that opened today!) has been added to MTA’s Vignelli-style “Weekender” map. I’ll say that it looks pretty good, but Vignelli’s famous “one dot equals one stop” principle seems to have been broken at Times Sq/42nd and Grand Central/42nd, where one dot now seems to serve both the “S” and the “7″. Compare the “S” to the “L”, which has its own terminus dot at the 14th Av/8th […]
Portland’s new Orange Line light rail opens tomorrow! And while I’m excited, I’ve long wondered why exactly it’s being called the Orange Line instead of just being an extension of the Yellow Line. I’ve heard mutterings that it allows operational flexibility – with some northbound Orange Line trains becoming Green Line trains if demand requires it – but that’s always seemed like pretty weak reasoning to me. And this promotional map almost entirely abandons that idea […]
Submitted by Nicholas, who says: Please take a look at the transit map of Geneva ! It’s beautiful. It includes streetcars and all buses. Transit Maps says: Okay, Nicholas, I will! I even know who designed this map: it’s a collaboration between designer Andrea Forgacs and architect Oscar Buson, and seems to be part of a suite of maps that include the urban core (this map), the greater suburban area, a night services map and […]
This brand new map was sent my way by quite a few people last week, so here it is! If the name “Ilya Birman” sounds familiar, it’s because his map of the Moscow Metro came second in the design competition a few years ago that was eventually won by Art Lebedev Studios. I wrote about Ilya’s entry here at the time. Now, Ilya and designer Alexander Karavaev have turned their attention to the tram network […]
Submitted by Michael Whalen (amongst others), who says: I just stumbled upon this map showing all CTA/Metra/SouthShore train connections in Chicago. There’s a lot going on, but I like how its much more diagrammatic than the regular map. I see several things that they’ve done with this map that I know you will hate, but I thought I’d leave it here for your critique anyway. Transit Maps says: There may be a few small things […]
Submitted by A. Potts, who says: Hi! This is the official map of the Manchester Metrolink, a tramway/light rail system in Northern England. I just thought I’d submit it to you for your opinion on it. This isn’t mine, obviously, but I haven’t been able to find who made it. If that’s something you also know, I’d love to know. Transit Maps says: Tracking down who produces official transit maps can be quite tricky. Even […]
Submitted by Tony, who says: I love this official transit map on Guangzhou metro, it’s simple and clean and has just enough detail to not confuse you. Only thing I hate is the interchange station symbol it looks big and bulky when compared to the rest of the map. Your thoughts? Transit Maps says: Yes, this is certainly a fine example of a clean, simple diagrammatic transit map. There’s nothing else at all to draw […]
Submitted by Kevin McElroy, who says: I was recently reading the Wikipedia article about the Servizio Ferroviario Metropolitano (Metropolitan Railway Service) for Bologna, Italy and a user-uploaded map of the system is drastically better than the official map. You should check it out and see if you might want to do a map review on it. The strange thing is that the logo and branding for the service is actually a pleasant design but the […]
