Brought to my attention by Twitter user Zmapper, here’s a first (and hopefully a last) for a public transit agency – an official map that’s been drawn in Microsoft Excel. Lest you think I’m joking, the downloadable PDF on the EzRider website is named “Copy of Midland Bus Routes sch 2.xlsx”. The visible cell gridlines behind the map are also a bit of dead giveaway.

I understand that smaller agencies are strapped for time, money and resources, but this is kind of ridiculous. Excel is a spreadsheet program with the most rudimentary of drawing tools. It’s for number-crunching, not for any kind of cartographic application. While I certainly admire the ingenuity shown in forcing Excel to produce something it clearly shouldn’t have to, the results unfortunately speak for themselves.

Even stranger, the agency’s other route map – for its services in nearby Odessa – is based on a quite competent street map of the city, so I can’t really fathom why it was ever decided to proceed with this odd little exercise.

Our rating: Bordering on the bizarre. Zero stars and an entry into the Hall of Shame.

Source: EzRider website