Submission – Soviet Metro Map Design Revival by Cédric

January 28, 2021
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Submitted by Cédric, who says:

I got interested in a historical map of the Moscow Metro featured on this site some time ago (November 2012, 4 stars). The radical simplicity of the visual language, using only straight lines and circles, gives a unique quality to the map, both in its high legibility and evocative power.

Realizing that it would be geometrically impossible to recreate this design to fit today’s expanded Moscow metro network, I started to apply a similar design language to a series of metro systems around the world, selected for the intermediate complexity of their network, allowing for a compact and unique-looking map, yet somehow challenging design-wise.

Building upon the original map of Moscow, I tried out ways to display additional layers of information: branching lines, route numbers, and interchanges to other public transit networks.

Transit Maps says:

This is a great little project, Cédric! I have to admit that I’m a little surprised at how well this style adapts to all the different networks, though Munich is probably pushing it to the absolute limits of what it can achieve. As you rightly say, this technique really works best on networks of “intermediate complexity”.

Of all the examples you’ve shown, I think Milan is my favourite: a series of similar interlocking arcs all connected by the straight line axis of Line 3… wonderful! Montreal is also quite lovely, although I could imagine that people who live there could take issue with the representation of “north”, which they generally take as meaning “away from the river”.

Our final word: Great work all around, and I look forward to more diagrams made in the same style in the future!

Submission – Official Map: Public Transit of Wrocław, Poland, 2021

January 27, 2021
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Submitted by Rafał, who says:

I’d like to submit an official map of public transport in Wrocław, Poland. The network consists of 23 tram lines, 61 city bus lines and 18 suburban bus lines. The most interesting is the circle tram line 0 which in fact is divided into two lines 0L (counter-clockwise) and 0P (clockwise). Inside the city of Wrocław it’s also possible to travel by train having a city’s public transport ticket.

Transit Maps says:

Fitting over 20 tram lines and almost 80 bus lines into a compact canvas like this is an almost impossible task, so you’ve got to admire the herculean effort made here. However, it’s undoubtedly difficult to use: there are only two colours for routes (magenta for trams and blue for buses) and you have to find and then painstakingly follow route numbers across the map. It’s one of my least favourite methods for marking routes, and this execution certainly doesn’t change my mind.

Unsurprisingly, the map gets quite cramped in places, and the labelling suffers a bit because of it – though I’ve definitely seen worse. Some good design discipline has been used to set up the major route axes of the map along 30°/60° angles, though the effect is somewhat spoiled by the dashed green fare zone boundary, which weaves its way drunkenly around the edge of the map. It even takes a little detour around some explanatory text at the bottom centre, which I find strangely amusing. The main rail lines are also drawn in a different style, taking naturalistic curves through the city. It does set them apart from the bus and tram lines, but it’s also stylistically a little jarring.

Our final word: A diagram like this might just work in the hands of a skilled designer like Jug Cerovic, but this attempt falls short for me.

Source: Wrocław city website

Official Map: Milan Metro and Suburban Rail, 2021

January 23, 2021
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Suggested for review by my Dad.

Milan’s Metro has grown since I last reviewed the official map (way back in March 2012), with Line 5 now being open and Line 4 under construction – so a new review is long overdue.

The first thing I noticed is that the suburban lines have all been upgraded to have their own colour-coded route line instead of sharing a common colour as on previous maps. This makes them easier to understand and follow across the map, and certainly highlights the importance of Garibaldi station as the major suburban transportation hub. Garibaldi itself gets a unique diamond station marker and is situated at the dead centre of the map, so it really can’t be missed!

The Metro lines are nice and thick, and now have curves when they change direction instead of a hard corner, which make the map flow a bit better for me. However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rhythm or order to the layout and everything just seems a little messy to me. The angled labels aren’t helping matters, and are particularly unfortunate seeing as previous versions had labels that were all set horizontally. Condensed all-caps labels also aren’t the easiest to read.

Other notes: Quite a few stations seem to have secondary labels for nearby business headquarters – Bluvacanze, Widiba, etc. – though I don’t know if this is informational or as a result of commercial sponsorship deals. Whatever the reason, it’s just another layer of information that makes the map a little more crowded.

The addition of fare zones in fairly bright colours also introduces more visual noise, though it’s probably handled about as well as it could be. Most of the zones only apply to the eastern end of Line 2, though, so maybe there’s a cleaner way to apply this information.

Our final word: Feels a bit loose and unformed to me, though it’s perfectly usable. I always have difficulty relating Milan Metro maps to the historical centre of the city, and this one is no different. Haphazard labelling is probably its biggest downfall.

Source: LineaDiretta/Medium – click through for a brief history of the Milan Metro map from 1985 onwards.

Submission – Fantasy Map: A speculative rail transit map of Bengaluru, India by ‘theotherspica’

January 22, 2021
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Submitted by ‘theotherspica’, who says:

I’m an amateur designer and, having had some free time during the pandemic, decided to try and make my first metro map. I found your site very useful while making the map. Thank you for your amazing collection of helpful tips and examples that helped me avoid many first-time mistakes I would otherwise have made.

This map is based on official info and speculation. My speculations and assumptions are based on press releases and official statements, so nothing in this map is too unreasonable. In all likelihood, about 80% of this map may be a reality in 10 years’ time.

I’ve designed it to be used by regular commuters, and not necessarily to sell the idea to people. Therefore, I’ve tried to design it for practical use and I’ve tried to make it minimalist but not boring. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ways to improve it.

Transit Maps says:

I’m so glad that this website was helpful in your first transit mapping endeavour, and I think it’s turned out pretty nicely as well! You’ve definitely done a good job of untangling the denser parts of the proposed network, and the mode differentiation between metro (solid lines) and commuter rail (cased) works well. Overall, it perhaps leans a little too much on the much-imitated London Tube design style, but I think almost everyone starts there before developing their own style: I know I did!

The full list of stations and their grid reference are a nice addition to a comprehensive legend, though I think the type is a bit small and could fit into the available space a bit better. Also, be wary of old style numerals (where the descenders drop below the baseline) in tabular information like this: it can make those grid references harder to read. If the font supports it (and many modern OpenType fonts do), set this information using tabular lining numerals instead. None of the digits will drop below the baseline, and all of them will take up the same width, making those grid references line up underneath each other far more neatly. This setting can be found in the OpenType options palette in InDesign and Illustrator, so check it out.

The complaint about small type continues to the labelling, especially the tiny text naming the lines – for something that’s meant to aid accessibility, it’s just far too small to be useful. Many transit maps use larger bullets with a letter or number representing the line’s designation at each terminus, which I generally think is more effective than tiny labels along the line itself.

Finally, I’m not entirely sure about the typeface used for the map’s title – Montserrat is a hard-working sans serif, but its alternate characters are definitely an acquired taste, especially that capital-slash-lowercase “M” and the curved “T”.

Our final word: For a first effort, this is really rather good! The bones of the map are solid, and most of the improvements really have to do with typography – which is often underlooked in transit map design. Keep at it!

Submission – Fantasy Map: An Alternate Seattle Subway Map by Henry Chin

January 14, 2021
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Submitted by Henry, who says:

Here’s a simple diagram for a hypothetical Seattle where Forward Thrust (the original ’60s subway) was actually built and where we would be today. If only we really had this level of transit.

I tried to make this kind of look like a diagram you might find in a newspaper, so it’s not super detailed with a legend and stuff. Or at least that’s my excuse for being lazy!

Transit Maps says:

A nice “what if?” map here from Henry, envisioning a Seattle where construction on a light rail network began in the 1960s instead of later… much later. It’s the little touches that I like, like the latest work package being called Forward Thrust 3 (or FT3) instead of the real world Sound Transit 3/ST3. It seems that in this alternate world, Sound Transit was never formed, as Henry places the ownership of the network with King County Metro.

The diagram itself does have that “newspaper infographic” feel, so I’d say it works as Henry intended. While simplification is good for that purpose, I’d still like to see a version with the bodies of water that do so much to define Seattle – Lake Union, Lake Washington and the Puget Sound itself. The reason this network looks so similar to the planned ST3 configuration of the real world is simply because Seattle is hemmed in by water and there’s very few viable routes.

One little technical thing I’d like to see fixed is the divergence of the red and blue lines south of Jackson station: if Henry nudged the change of direction on the red line down and to the right a bit more, the lines would change direction at the same point, which always looks a bit cleaner to me.

Our final word: A simple diagram of what could have been, made with a minimum of fuss. Works for me!

Submission – Unofficial Prague Metro Map by Kostya Cherepovskyi

January 11, 2021
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Submitted by Kostya, who says:

Hi Cameron,

Hope you’re safe and doing well.

Remember metro orientation map of Prague you’ve reviewed back in 2012 (August 2012, 3.5 stars)? You might be surprised how little it changed since then. The framing you were uncertain about, little bits here and there, and… that’s pretty much it. This seems like an overhaul waiting to happen, doesn’t it?

So here I am trying to address some of the issues I believe are critical in terms of usability including the one you’ve pointed out back then, and I totally agree with (no tram routing). I’ve also introduced new subway line D which is currently under way just to explore how the whole thing scales. What do you think?

There’s a short story in case you’d like to learn more about my decision making.

Transit Maps says:

A rather lovely effort to “modernise” the Prague Metro map from Kostya, and one that’s mostly successful. I do like the large, sweeping curves used; they really lend a sense of elegance to the map. I do applaud the addition of route numbers to the tram lines, though I think in general the tram lines are too thin and the numbers too small to be easily read. It’s interesting to note that Kostya has actually taped his map up in a Metro car and come to much the same conclusion himself – I love it when designers test their work in real-world conditions!

The addition of information about bus transfers to the airport are another welcome addition, though it seems a pity not to at least indicate the Czech Railways Airport Express bus from Terminal 1 to the more centrally located Hlavní Nádraží as well.

Like the official map, Kostya uses icons to indicate points of interest, which I think could benefit from an explanatory legend. While locals may understand what the icons represent, Prague is a major tourist destination and these users probably need to be catered for.

Our final word: A stylish update that mostly works and certainly isn’t as clunky as the official map. The tram line could probably use some work to make them more legible in real-world usage.

Fantasy Map: Chicago Transit Future by Michael Tyznik

January 8, 2021
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Showing an alternate future where everything in a 2014 proposal actually got built, this is without a doubt one of the best looking Chicago transit maps I have ever seen – just lovely work from Michael. Many designers have tried to integrate the Loop into the main map instead of using an inset before, but rarely as successfully as this. Michaels’ Loop fits the scale of the rest of the map really well, and just looks like it belongs.

Despite being very information-dense (“L” lines, commuter rail lines and arterial bus routes all on one map!), everything feels very clean, spacious and well-organised. Colour is used intelligently to emphasise hierarchy – bright colours for the “L”, muted pastels for commuter rail lines, and grey for the bus routes.

It’s all so good that I can even overlook a couple of my personal dislikes – labels set in the same colour as the line they represent, and stations that are labelled multiple times – once for every service that terminates there. Sometimes you just have to let these things slide because the piece as a whole just works.

As a side note, how amazing would those crosstown “L” lines be if they actually existed, especially the O’Hare to Midway airport link? We can only hope and dream!

Our final word: Just awesome. It’s only January and this may already be my favourite map of 2021.

Source: Michael’s website

Submission – Official Map: Sofia Metro, Bulgaria, 2020

January 6, 2021
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Submitted by John, who says:

The Sofia Metro is a not-so-big metro system in the capital of Bulgaria. Although I’m not Bulgarian, nor live in Bulgaria, I’ve been there, and it’s quite nice. The following map is the latest one, from the opening of Line 3, on the 26th of August, this year. It’s quite simple, but unlike the previous ones, it’s far more consistent (as it uses the same angles, colors, stuff like that), and much more visually appealing. Any thoughts?

Transit Maps says:

Yes, this is a vast improvement over older Sofia Metro maps! To me, it looks like an evolution in design from the quasi-official version created and promoted by the Spazi Sofia NGO back in 2015 (review here – Cam). It uses the same icons for the points of interest, which suggests a shared parentage.

Overall, I quite like it, though some of the labelling is carelessly placed. The long leader line down to Ovcha Kupel II station is unnecessary, and quite a few names cut across route lines. The long station names and bilingual labels don’t help matters, but I feel that more care could perhaps have been taken.

The other main point of contention is the grey background to indicate the boundaries of the city – I feel that this is redundant and just makes the background busier than it needs to be. However, if it was removed, I guess the question of whether to continue to include the parkland areas would have to be addressed.

Our final word: A solid evolution of the work done by Spazi Sofia, now made fully official, it seems. There’s nothing truly outstanding about it, but it’s clean, simple and pleasing to the eye. 3 stars.

Source: Sofia Metro website

Submission – Unofficial Map: Philadelphia Transit and Points of Interest, 2020 by Marc Szarkowski

January 4, 2021
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Submitted by Marc, who says:

I thought you might enjoy poring over a transit+points of interest map I recently drew of Center City Philadelphia.

I’ve collected bird’s eye urban panoramas since I was a child, and I particularly enjoy panoramas that have placemaking and wayfinding value, such as those drawn by Jenni Sparks and other artists.

I also find there’s no better way to learn and demystify seemingly-complex bus service than drawing it a couple times over. Taking the lead from SEPTA’s own frequency map, here I attempted to demystify bus service for visitors by employing SEPTA’s new color-coded frequency classification, and by winnowing a selection of bus routes that permit the easiest gridlike travel across Center City so visitors aren’t forced to rely only on the spartan axes of the MFL and BSL.

The map was also fueled by a longing and impatience for the points of interest to reopen so that all the attractions of Center City (and other cities) can once again be enjoyed after COVID. Here’s to a better 2021 and 2022 and to the hopeful revival of the urban flaneur!

Zoom and pan the map in the window above, or use the full-screen button to view the map in full detail. If the button doesn’t work for you or you’re on a mobile device, use this link for a full browser window version.

Transit Maps says:

It’s a sign of just how much I love this that I asked Marc whether I could share it in my new zoomable map format, just so you can all get in super close and see the wonderful detail in this map. I just adore the stylised, textured base map – an aerial image run through some artistic Photoshop filters that’s then been cleaned up manually and tinted to highlight points of interest and parkland, which sounds like a lot of painstaking, time consuming work. The end result is worth it, though – the city looks like a city, with recognisable buildings and landmarks. I particularly like the way that taller buildings obscure transit lines on streets that are further away from our viewpoint – it’s this that really sells the dimensionality of the map, like we were in a hot air balloon tethered high above the streets below. It’s very definitely evocative of those old birds-eye view maps that Marc mentions with such fondness.

Marc’s other influence, Jenni Sparks, can certainly be seen in the juxtaposition of a detailed base map and bright, thick transit route lines, though Marc’s map is less chaotic than Jenni’s more organic illustrative pieces. Despite the busy background, all the transit lines stand out well and are easy to see and follow. I particularly like the way that Marc has added texture to the route lines so that they look like they belong to the rest of the map instead of just being plopped on top of it. If all this work wasn’t enough, Marc has also added some 245 points of interest to the map, making it an invaluable tool for visitors to the city. And really, that’s what this map should be for – printed and available for tourists in every bookstore and information bureau in the city: it’s just that good.

If I had one tiny complaint, it’s that I’m personally not that fond of the playful, child-like typeface used for the map’s title at the top left – but that’s a pretty minor quibble on the whole of things. Wonderful work, Marc!

For those who are interested, Marc has made PDFs of the map that are available to download for personal, non-commercial use only.

Low-resolution PDF (27MB): for on-screen viewing or desktop printing

High-resolution PDF (73MB): suitable for high-quality or large format printing

Submission – Unofficial Map: Transit Map of Hamburg, Germany by Simon Heidenreich

January 1, 2021
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Submitted by Simon, who says:

Hamburg, Germany’s line map always strikes me as one of the most ugly maps depicting a major transit network – one can understand if the ones made for small town bus networks are not up to the design standard of the upper echelons like Moscow or the like, but a city like Hamburg having such a bad map is just strange.

The convoluted knot of lines around the main station make it really hard to properly layout the lines and it took me an immense amount of time to make it look halfway decent; the fact that it has two trunk lines does not help.

I added the actual station building with the iconic iron arches and in my opinion, it helps a bit with orientation, especially looking at the “Hbf Nord” and “Hbf Süd” Metro stops that are neither really north or south of the place in real life.

Further additions are, of course, a tiny Elbphilhaarmonie with the corresponding ferry line from Landungsbrücken, walking interchange indications with distance and approximate walking time, overall more harmonic spacing, and many more small things.

Transit Maps says:

There’s a lot of things I really like about this map: the 3D Hauptbahnhof and the way the lines run “through” it is nothing short of inspired, and everything is very neatly and evenly laid out. But there’s one big problem with it that shows what a balancing act a really great transit map really is – if one thing isn’t right, then the whole design can be thrown out of balance.

Simon has employed a distinctive white dash for each station, which in turn needs a background of sufficient darkness for these dashes to show up properly. However, that dark grey background then reduces the contrast between it and the route lines and labels, especially in the darker inner AB tariff zone. The green S1 and teal U4 lines are very recessive against the background, and the cyan label for the Elbphilhaarmonie ferry stop gets swallowed up almost completely. Most of the other colours fare somewhat better – the dark green S11 works much better than the mid-green S1, for example – so the solution could just be adjusting colours to improve the contrast to an acceptable level. It may also be possible to lighten the grey backgrounds just a tad and still use the white station markers, which I do quite like.

A couple of other notes: For me, the canals that join the Alster to the Elbe – while technically correct – are a little too busy and fussy and could perhaps be eliminated, especially as the rest of the river is so clean and stylised. The inclusion of walking distances between nearby stations and landmarks is a welcome addition, though.

Our final word: Contrast between elements is hugely important, and this otherwise excellent map needs a bit of work to improve matters in that department.