All posts filed under: Official Maps

More Tariff Zone Maps: The Ugly Stepsisters of the Transit Map World

February 6, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Yesterday’s post on Eastern Austria/Greater Vienna’s tariff zone map certainly attracted some attention: I’ve already received quite a few links to similar maps from different (mainly European) locations. Shown here are the tariff zone maps for Munich, Glasgow and Hamburg, all of which are bewildering in their own way. As some commenters have pointed out to me, these maps seem to be a bit of a necessary evil: the transit agency needs to have some […]

Official Map: Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region Tarifzonenplan, Austria, 2013

February 5, 2013
comment 1
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Okay, my head is officially reeling here. Try as I might, I can barely make any sense at all of this fare zone map from Austria’s Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region, the transport association that handles rail and bus transit in Eastern Austria (in effect, the Greater Vienna area). I get that there are eight concentric zone rings radiating out from Vienna, each of which is broken up into smaller zone areas, but after that… There just seems […]

The Design Process Behind the New Moscow Metro Map

February 4, 2013
comments 2
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

 As you may have heard by now, the Art Lebedev Studio entry will become the new official Moscow Metro map at the end of February. It beat out the other two entries convincingly, garnering 52% of the popular vote. Of particular interest to me, though, is the design process page for the map on their website: a fascinating look at the hard work and effort that goes into making a world-class transit map. Concepts are […]

Photo: Using the Floor Map as a Guide

January 30, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Miscellany, Official Maps
Tags:

We’ve feautured a transit map on the ceiling of a train before, so why not one on the floor as well? This map shows the suburban and regional train network surrounding Milan in Italy: Milan’s Metro system can be seen in between our two touristy friends. Reading the departures board in the background, I’d hazard a guess that this map is at the Garibaldi FS station. Awkward to use when the station is really busy, […]

Photo: Mexico City Metro Linea 1 Strip Map

January 29, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

If you’re going to use icons for each of your stations, as Mexico City does, then why not make them nice and big and simply arrange them in the correct order? More from Wikipedia on the iconography of the Mexico City Metro: Each station is identified by a minimalist logo related to the name of the station or the area around it. This is because, at the time of the first line’s opening, the illiteracy […]

Official Map: ART Bus System, Asheville, North Carolina, 2013

January 18, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Submitted by Matthew Frazier, who says: This is the new system map for ART, or Asheville Redefines Transit (a rather interesting name for a transit agency), from Asheville, North Carolina. I think this is a nice format for bus maps, balancing the stronger need for geographical accuracy with the simplicity of traditional rail maps. (Though I do find it amusing that the “South” route S2 ends further north than it begins.) Transit Maps says: I think […]

Submission – Official Map: Des Moines DART Bus System, 2013

January 17, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Submitted by “ZMapper”, who included a link to the full map on the official DART website. Have we been there? No. What we like: At first glance, this looks like a nice, clean, modern-looking system map – a breath of fresh air that stands out from the usual geographically-based “road map” bus maps. However, there are some serious usability issus that detract from the light and airy look, which I’ll discuss below. I do like […]

Photo: Barcelona Wayfinding

December 20, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Not only is this an awesome picture, but it really shows off how the Barcelona Metro map is part of a greater, unified, wayfinding scheme. Here, on one panel, we’ve got a nice big map, information about the Metro, a complete cross-referenced list of stations, and a local area map showing the transportation options around the current station. Wonderful stuff. Source: albertmiralles/Flickr – link no longer active

Official Map: Brussels Metro, Tram and Rail Network, 2012

December 19, 2012
comment 1
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Having touched briefly on the Brussels map with this previous post, I thought it was time to take a proper look at the current official map. Have we been there? Yes, back in 2003, but I walked pretty much everywhere and didn’t use the Metro/tram system. I did catch trains from Brussels to other cities in Belgium, however. What we like: The treatment of the Metro part of the system is excellent, with a nice […]