Submitted by Jug, who says: I’d like to submit a map I have been working on for quite some time and finally completed. It’s a diagram of the Shinkansen high speed train network in Japan. As the network is basically one main trunk line going from Kyushu to Hokkaido and several spurs it makes sense to show it in a schematic way. Also high speed makes geography and distance almost irrelevant. One will easily notice […]
Submitted by Hilário, who says: Recently I was back in Auckland, after not having been there for years. I discovered that my parents have never caught the bus there; this is despite them living close to reasonable bus routes, and – as senior citizens – having free public transport most of the time. (They are not against public transport; they are just migrants who were never shown how to look up public transport information.) So […]
Submitted by Kenneth, who says: Hi Cameron, Well, I finally went and made a map after all the years berating other maps. So I throw it to you for amusement/ridicule, etc. I’m deliberately not going to explain my design decisions in detail because I think it best to get feedback without colouring your judgement. I’ll be writing a blog on my thinking in the next week or two but I wanted to simplify and de-clutter […]
Submitted by Carter, who says: I’ve always been fascinated with trains and tube-style maps, so I decided to make my own based on my home-town’s railroad. I found an old Official Guide which I used as my source for this map. I’d like to hear what your think of it. Transit Maps says: Carter says that this is his first map, and I think it’s absolutely amazing for a first effort. Even with an official […]
Submitted by Durfsurn, who says: Originally I was making a map similar to my previous style of Melbourne/ Australian transport maps, but as the increasing complexity of a multi-modal map made itself clear I decided to streamline the lines, trying to balance real life corridors with more sensible and understandable map design. First I was inspired from a recent trip to Japan (amazing PT systems with manic maps to go with!) and added Line Identifiers […]
Here’s an interesting little infographic (clearly based off the official Translink map) that’s making the rounds on Reddit/Twitter/etc. at the moment, showing average weekday ridership on rapid transit in Vancouver, British Columbia. Created by u/Mobius_Peverell on Reddit with “Excel, GIMP, and two afternoons” (in their own words), it’s quite a striking graphic. It definitely shows the dominance of the SkyTrain, and the Canada Line in particular. However, it’s important to note that the 99 B-Line, […]
Submitted by Max, who says: Some time ago you had someone submit a redesign of the Montreal map in the style of Harry Beck (August 2013), but noted it included a number of “un-Beckian” turns at the ends of the green line. Inspired by this, and that Montreal’s system was manageable for a first-time designer, I removed as much of the geography as I felt I could. I picture this being the right sort of […]
Submitted by Alec, who says: Long-time reader here with my first submission, a redesign of Atlanta’s MARTA rail system. I’ve always been puzzled as to why the colors in MARTA’s logo don’t reflect those of the lines. For this map, I’ve “rebranded” the line colors, which has the added benefit of making them easier to distinguish for those with colorblindness. I’ve named the lines after their unique terminals, which erases the potential confusion for tourists […]
Submitted by Jaap, who says: I’m a Dutch information designer and design school teacher. I would like to submit my map of the Amsterdam Metro and Train network for your review. Transit Maps says: Jaap actually sent me a version of this map quite a while ago, and I’m sorry to say that it’s been languishing in my inbox since then. Which is a bit of a crime, because I think this is an excellent, […]
Jose sent me a link to this still-evolving project via Twitter the other day, and his post on Medium about it is well worth reading, even through the filter of Google Translate. He’s got a lot of great ideas, and it’s always fun seeing how other people approach codifying their design principles for a map. What really caught my eye was this GIF showing the evolution of Jose’s map, all the way from the initial […]
