All posts filed under: Official Maps

Official Map: Sao Paulo Metropolitan Transport Network, 2012

January 10, 2012
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Unusually, this map from the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo shows services offered by completely different transportation companies on the same map. To my mind, this type of integrated map needs to be used more often – travelers don’t necessarily care who offers the service, they just want to know if they can get from point A to point B. Have we been there? No. What we like: Comprehensive and all-encompassing. Great legend, even if […]

Official Map: St. Louis MetroLink Light Rail, 2011

December 16, 2011
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Not every transit map has the multiple lines and complex interchanges of the London Underground, Paris Metro or New York Subway. Many systems have but a few lines which interact with each other in very simple ways: either crossing at a central point, or – as in this map’s case – sharing a common alignment for most of their length. But just because the map is simple doesn’t mean the designer shouldn’t pay attention to […]

Official Map: Copenhagen S-Tog Map, 2011

December 9, 2011
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Some transit maps are geographically based, others are diagrams. But what happens when you get a map with too much diagram? That’s what we have with Copenhagen’s S-Tog (S-Train) map: it looks gorgeous, but at what cost to usability? Have we been there? Yes, but I didn’t use the S-Tog system. I arrived and left by long-distance trains from/to Berlin, and caught a regional train out to Roskilde to visit the Viking Ship Museum ( […]

Official Map: Philadelphia SEPTA Network, 2011

December 6, 2011
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After quite a few stellar maps, it’s time to show what I consider to be one of the least successful transit maps in current use in the US. To put it bluntly, SEPTA’s map is an unappealing, jumbled mess and certainly does not get me excited to use their system (a major plus point in my internal scoring system). Have we been there? No. What we like: Deserves credit for attempting to show so many […]

Official Map: Taipei MRT, Taiwan, 2011

November 28, 2011
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Taipei’s Metro system only began construction in 1988, but now has almost 90 stations and over 100km of track. All this comes at a price however, with Phase One of the system costing US$18 billion and Phase Two (currently under construction) estimated to cost US$13.8 billion upon completion. Have we been there? No. What we like: Nice diagrammatic representation – the stylised rivers are handled much better on this diagram than on the Tyne & […]

Official Map: Los Angeles Metro, 2011

November 23, 2011
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Requested by Mr. Grafix, among others. Public transportation in LA is making a comeback, decades after the last streetcar line was ripped up. At the heart of this renaissance is the Metro system, an odd combination of light rail (Blue, Green and Yellow lines), heavy rail (Red and Purple lines) and Bus Rapid Transit (Orange and Silver lines). The new Expo Line is also nearing completion of Phase I and will be showing up on […]

Official Map: Tyne & Wear Metro, England, 2011

November 17, 2011
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Opened in 1980, the Tyne and Wear Metro is the first of Britain’s modern light rail systems. It also benefits from a very strong corporate identity with the slab serif Calvert typeface (named after its creator and one of the original identity designers in 1977, the famous Margaret Calvert) as a core component. The typeface is used extensively throughout the system, even as wall-sized station names as seen in the photo of Monument Station. Taken […]

Official Map: Rail Transit of Stockholm, Sweden, 2011

November 15, 2011
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I really appreciate transit maps that combine different modes of transit, and this map does just that – showing Metro, light rail, trams and commuter rail in a very clean, restrained manner. Coloured route lines (blue, orange and green) set the dense and important Metro network apart from the subsidiary light rail, tram and commuter rail routes, which are shown in grey and thin black lines. Zone information is displayed through a chilly looking cyan […]

Official Map: Go Transit System Map, Southern Ontario, Canada

November 11, 2011
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It must be the season for redesigning transit maps. Hot on the heels of NJ Transit’s disappointing new system map comes a new map for the Go Transit network that serves Toronto and Southern Ontario. And unlike that NJ Transit map, this one takes the opportunity to create something new, contemporary and exciting – and totally runs with it. Especially when it’s compared to their previous map, which was nothing short of terrible. The old […]