If you’ve reached this page from a search engine hit, please note that this is not the official NJ Transit page, but an independent review of the map as it stood in 2011. If you want to see the current official map, then follow this link [PDF]. If you love transit maps and diagrams, then please stick around and read the review – and more – on this site! This morning, an interesting tweet came […]
If you visit Paris, you need to use the Metro to get around, so it’s a good thing that its map is up to the task. It took Paris a long time to come around to a diagrammatic approach (Harry Beck created two versions on spec, but both were rejected), and earlier diagrams were not as successful as this – one had all vertical lines set at a jaunty 15-degree angle, which made the whole […]
A beautiful example of an abstracted rectilinear diagram – everything is evenly spaced, with subtle curves and a lovely complementary rounded typeface. The colours in this diagram work wonderfully well, with “traditional” route colours of Blue, Yellow, Green and Red being given a pastel twist and lovely icons that fit in with Lisbon’s maritime history perfectly. An excellent bi-lingual key and icons pack this map with useful information and all type is set horizontally. The […]
A excellent example of how strong transit map design is carried across to other elements of the user experience: here, strong and easily understood wayfinding signage in the Barcelona Metro. Source: airways/Flickr
This map is another fine example of how to integrate a transit diagram onto a street grid. The streets are shown in a subordinate grey at a thinner line weight, and fade away to nothing when no longer needed. The bright, bold subway lines stand out well against this background, and lots of important information is clearly marked. One piece of information that I don’t think I’ve seen on any other transit map: a line […]
An excellent example of a fully diagrammatic metro map. Clearly marked routes (both by number and end station name), bright and attractive colours and lots of useful information like bus, tram and main line railway interchanges. The city centre area is nicely denoted by showing it as a white square against the light grey background – the information is there, but is definitely subordinate to the main purpose of the map. There also appears to […]
Chicago’s street grid is so incredibly regular that this map seems to be a rectilinear diagram. It’s only after observing some odd little twists and turns in the route lines that you realise that this is actually a fairly geographically accurate map – so much so that the downtown Loop is represented in an detail inset because it would otherwise appear too small to decipher. Even the station names pretty much conform to the grid […]
This map is a great example of how it’s attention to the little details that separate the great transit maps and the merely good. At first glance, this map has all the elements of the best: a clean layout, an excellent and consistently applied set of icons for subsidiary information (parking, restrooms, lost and found, etc. – although any information about disabled access to the system is strangely lacking), and good informational hierarchy (note how […]
Having showcased some excellent transit map design, it’s time to see what happens when it all goes horribly wrong. This monstrosity is the official map – available on the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s website – for the light rail system of Buffalo, New York. My eyes hurt. Have we been there? No. What we like: It tells us where the trains stop. That is all. What we don’t like: Where to begin? The hilarious usage […]
A transit diagram exhibiting many of the “standard” features of a German transit map: clean design, rectangles for interchange stations that increase in size according to the number of lines that pass through them, and an absence of curves on route lines. A few features set it apart from other similar maps, including the angled type used throughout, set in a slightly odd choice of Futura Condensed – not always the most legible typeface at […]
