All posts filed under: Unofficial Maps

Unofficial Map – New York City Subway Track Map by Andrew Lynch

May 11, 2017
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I’m kind of surprised that this hasn’t been done before – there are plenty of similar track maps out there for other major transit cities like London and Paris – but this is very nicely executed indeed.  The map looks great, is easily understood even without consulting the legend, and has copious footnotes for those who want to really dive deep into the inner workings of the subway. Extra kudos for cleverly fitting the label “MANHATTAN” […]

A Look at Amtrak Under the Proposed Federal Budget

April 15, 2017
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A federal budget outline from the Trump Administration looks to slash funding for rail transportation, including a complete elimination of federal funds for long-distance Amtrak routes like the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief and California Zephyr.  The map above, adapted from my Amtrak as Subway Map project, shows what the “national” passenger rail network could look like under this proposal: isolated, separate rail services, with no cross-country connections and over 220 stations without Amtrak rail service. Chicago, […]

Could a Tweak to the DC Metro Map Fix Overcrowding?

February 22, 2017
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Here’s a quick link to an article in the Washington Post by Martine Powers about a study that shows how tinkering with Washington, DC’s Metrorail map influences rider’s perceptions of the system and which path they should take to reach their final destination. In the image above, for example, the Blue Line has been altered to look less desirable than the Yellow Line when coming into DC from the south… and in testing, there was […]

Unofficial Map: Map of all Urban Rail Transit Systems in Germany

February 13, 2017
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Via peopleneedaplacetogo on Tumbr Map of all local/urban rail transit systems in Germany (green S-Bahn, blue U-Bahn, red tram, yellow tram-train), by Wikipedia user Chumwa. Neat to-scale graphic of urban rail (and trolleybus as well, shown in purple) in Germany, last updated in June 2016. The length and breadth of some of the S-Bahn networks is quite astounding – look at Leipzig’s!  Click through to the map on the Wikimedia Commons for a better look.

Quick Project: Redesign of the Dallas Streetcar/DART Rail Strip Map

February 11, 2017
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The other day, long-time correspondent Edward Russell tweeted a photo of a strip map he’d seen while on the Dallas Streetcar (left). It depicts the DART light rail system, telling riders that they can make a connection with that service at Union Station (at one end of the short streetcar line). However, the execution of the map is almost comically poor: wobbly route lines, clashing labels, uneven spacing of stations and more. One of the […]

Unofficial Map: “Spoorslag 70″-style Map of Intercity Trains in the Netherlands, 2017 by AS Veen

February 1, 2017
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The lovely 1970 Dutch train map featured in my previous post was brought to my attention by the author of this map – a pitch-perfect recreation of the current IntercIty network in the old map’s style. Apart from a bit of welcome clean-up to the islands at bottom left (a big improvement in the clarity of the cartography here), everything else is faithfully rendered – including the odd little notch taken out of the south […]

Unofficial Map: The Alaska Marine Highway Highway by Daniel Huffman

December 14, 2016
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Submitted by Daniel, who says: The Alaska Marine Highway System is (to an outsider like me) super confusing. Their website has a map, but it doesn’t indicate which ferries connect which towns. But, this information is vital if you want to book passage — it appears to me that you can’t simply select two towns and hope that the system will route you along multiple ships; you have to know exactly which route and connection […]

Submission – Unofficial Future Map: Metro and Train Connections in Amsterdam by Alain Lemaire

December 3, 2016
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Submitted by Alain, who says: A map of the combined metro and train network around Amsterdam, showing train services for 2017 (metro line 52 is still not operational). I made this map to show how both metro and train form an integrated network within the region. For that reason, I combined different train services when they use the same line and stop at the same stations within the region portrayed. This map might for example […]

Historical (Unofficial?) Map: Transit of Sofia, Bulgaria, 2009

November 9, 2016
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Well, this is a bit of a mess, isn’t it? It looks like the map’s designers have attempted to represent the network isometrically, with the city’s grand avenues surrounding the historical central core. However, the whole thing’s just so darn busy that the attempted illusion just doesn’t work. Almost every part of the map is filled with something: labels, logos, clip art, photos of landmarks, even randomly-placed pictures of trams! I’m guessing that the map […]

Submission – Unofficial Map: New York Subway and Bus “Bullet Map” by Anthony Denaro

November 7, 2016
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Submitted by Anthony, who says: You reviewed my map of the Long Island Rail Road a few years ago. Your critiques and your blog have helped me in pushing forward on my current project, a unified Subway and Bus Map, I’m calling it the Bullet Map, named after the nickname for the circle subway route indicators. I launched it a month ago with a Medium post explaining methodology.  What do you think of it? Transit Maps says: Anthony’s actually been keeping […]