Submission – Official Map: Szeged, Hungary, 2013

September 15, 2013
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Submitted by fuckyeahgmetro, who says:

Hi, this is the official map of SzKT, the company running trams and trolley buses in the Hungarian city Szeged. I think it is in a very good place to run for the worst transit map “designed” ever!

Transit Maps says:

I’ll certainly agree that this map is really quite atrocious. But it’s not even really close to the very worst transit maps out there.

It’s certainly a lazy, slipshod effort — looking like some bad Photoshop/MS Paint work superimposed on a fairly standard map of the city. The labelling is extremely poor, with type in many different sizes and at completely random angles to fit it all in. The symbols for stations are also pretty ugly, especially in the sections where three or more routes share the same track.

Despite all this, it’s still actually possible to work out what’s going on fairly easily — possibly only because it’s a small and basic system — and this is what saves it from joining the ranks of the absolute worst maps.

The other thing I note looking at this system is how well it would translate into a circular diagrammatic map, which seem to be all the rage these days. The orbital nature of the city’s streets and the “spokes” of the main routes would actually make this an appropriate design decision, instead of simply being a design affectation.

Our rating: Pretty darn bad, but not as bad as some. Half a star.

Source: Official SzKT website

Historical Map: Société des Transports en Commun de la Région Parisienne – Réseau Tramways Banlieue, 1921

September 13, 2013
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Transport in Paris these days is so inextricably linked to the image of the ubiquitous Metro, that it’s very easy to forget that it once had an extensive network of trams spreading far out into the suburbs. Fancy catching a tram from the Louvre to all the way to Versailles along the banks of the Seine? You could back in 1921, when this gorgeous map was produced.

At this time, all the many competing tram and omnibus companies in and around Paris had just been merged into the Société des Transports en Commun de la Région Parisienne (STCRP), in effect, an early predecessor to today’s RATP.

The map itself is simply beautiful, with excellent and intelligent use of a limited colour palette – a range of hatching and stipple effects introduce some subtle, but informational, texture to the map. Even though the route lines are all in red, they’re easy to follow from end to end, thanks to some nice spacing between parallel routes, and helpful but unobtrusive route numbers along the lines. Interestingly, the Metro is not shown at all, but the main railway stations are.

Also shown are the extensive 19th century fortifications around Paris: not only the about-to-be-demolished Thiers Wall (also shown on this 1913 Metro map), but the myriad of forts in the surrounding countryside, like the Fort de l’Est near St. Denis in the picture above.

Our rating: Simply beautiful and stylish: couldn’t be more Parisian if it tried. 5 stars!

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Subte Map, Buenos Aires, 2001

September 13, 2013
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Nice shot of the distinctive Subte map in situ. Opened in 1913, the Subte is the oldest underground system in the Southern Hemisphere.

Source: sftrajan/Flickr

Unofficial Map: Boston “T” Map Made From Pipe Cleaners

September 11, 2013
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In a similar vein to this London Tube Map made from paperclips, here’s a perfect little Boston “T” map made from other innocuous household objects. Created by the very talented Andy Woodruff of Axis Maps and Bostonography, who obviously had way too much spare time on his hands one day.

Photo: Single Journey Ticket Issuing Machine, Hong Kong

September 10, 2013
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I’m loving how the Hong Kong MTR map (April 2012, 4 stars) has been integrated into the ticket-purchasing process. It’s as easy as selecting the station you’re travelling to on the screen, inserting money, and getting your ticket: Ticketing and route information all in one!

Source: wunelle/Flickr

Photo: Station-ery

September 10, 2013
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Cute title. Made back in 2007, so the Circle Line is actually a loop, rather than the… ahh.. paperclip… it is now. Nicely done piece of whimsy.

Source: Zach_ManchesterUK/Flickr – link no longer active

Submission: Cross-Stitched New York Subway Map

September 10, 2013
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Submitted by Sabina Wolfson, who says:

The cross-stitched “T” map you mentioned reminded me that I have been meaning to submit this for awhile. Cross-sittched NYC subway map from 2010. I took a map and made it into an x-stitch pattern and then my Aunt stitched it for me.

Transit Maps says:

Wow! The 45-degree angularity of most transit maps means that they work well with this type of “pixel-based” art, but Sabina must have been thrilled with the finished result. Mostly based off the Vignelli “Weekender” map, by the look of things.

Historical Map: Diagram of Tube Services, 7:00am, September 28, 1940

September 9, 2013
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Here’s a fantastic historical document – a tube map used by engineers in London to mark out the status of services on the Underground during World War II. By the look of it, this map was updated at least daily, if not even more often, as this date falls squarely within the Blitz – a period where London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights by the Luftwaffe.

The map itself looks like a modified hand-drawn version of H.C. Beck’s 1936 Tube Diagram, with all stations shown as circles and some main line track added as well. The use of the map is simple: a red line along track shows that there is no service along that segment, while a blue circle (seen between Belsize Park and Chalk Farm, for example) indicates the location of an exploded bomb. It would also seem that the circle for a station is also coloured red if it is substantially damaged or destroyed. Most horrifying of all, a red cross marks the location of an unexploded bomb. Notes written in a beautiful, precise hand add detail to these symbols where necessary – “unsafe buildings”, “single tunnel only available for traffic: SB tunnel damaged by bomb”.

Our rating: An incredible historical document that vividly recalls the dangers and horrors faced by Londoners during the Blitz. 5 stars!

Source: IanVisits/Flickr

Photo: Moscow Metro Line Maps

September 9, 2013
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A good example of how something that’s probably perfectly clear to locals can be totally confusing to foreign visitors. The first obstacle is obviously the Cyrillic text, which automatically makes things very tricky for non-natives. Now, I’ve spent quite a bit of time translating and cross-referencing the text here with a Moscow Metro map, and I think I’ve got it worked out — but this isn’t exactly a luxury that you would have when you’re down in a busy station, trying to work out where to go next.

Basically, this assembly shows transfers to other lines that are available along the Arbatsko–Pokrovskaya (Number 3) line: the dark blue colour of this line runs across the top, and three station names are visible: Kurskaya (Курская) — where you can transfer to the 5 and 10; Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Пло́щадь Револю́ции) — with a transfer to the 2; and Arbatskaya (Арба́тская) — which has interchanges with the 1, 4 and 9. Interestingly, you can also transfer to Line 1 at Ploshchad Revolyutsii, but this is not shown here. I’m guessing that this photo was taken at Kurskaya station, just from the four golden letters — ская — that can be seen at the top left of the picture.

Each line map underneath these station names helpfully tells you the name of the station that you transfer to (it’s not unusual for interchange stations in Moscow to have different names for each line). Less helpfully, it then presents a list of every station on that line from beginning to end, except for the one you are transferring at: which means you can’t see where on the the line that station is.

For example, on the Line 10 list shown at the left, the transfer station you would be using — Chkalovskaya (Чка́ловская) — should be in the fifth position, but is instead completely absent from the list. Needless to say, this isn’t great informational design, especially if you’re used to those reassuring “You Are Here“ markers that you see in many other transit systems around the world.

Obviously, these line maps aren’t the only guidance a traveller would have in the Metro — a really good map and an idea of where you wanted to go would be necessities — but they could definitely be a lot better.

Source: nattynora/Flickr