Historical Map: Bank-Monument Tube Stations Cutaway (1990s?)

July 17, 2013
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Not a traditional transit map per se, but a stunningly beautiful technical illustration of the interlinking tubes and tunnels that form the connected Bank-Monument tube station complex in London. Built as separate stations, but linked by escalators in the 1930s (the depiction of which proved a permanent puzzle for H.C. Beck on his Tube Map), the complex is the ninth-busiest London Underground station,

What I love here is that we’re looking at over 100 years of infrastructure development: the original Monument station (first called “Eastcheap” and then “The Monument”) opened in 1884; the “City” end of the Waterloo and City Line in 1898; Bank station (named after the Bank of London) opened in 1900. Over 100 years after the first part of the complex was opened, the deep station for the DLR was completed in 1991.

Compare to a similar cutaway of the Hudson River Tubes from 1909.

Source: Original source unknown, image from skyscrapercity.com forum post

Submission – Official Map: Montreal Metro Route Direction Map

July 16, 2013
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Submitted by Sean Hunt, who says:

A (sadly, slightly blurry) image of the Montreal Metro’s maps on the platform, displaying clearly which direction the line is going as well as the time to each station along the way.

Transit Maps says:

A nice, clear way to integrate travel information for a single line into a system-wide map. Reducing the width of the lines for the other routes instantly raises the designated route (here, the Blue Line towards Snowdon) higher in the information hierarchy. The current station and the final destination are repeated in text form above and below the map for extra emphasis and the direction of travel is indicated with a Great Big Arrow. Just in case you haven’t grasped things yet, there’s a big magenta “You Are Here” starburst on the current station, which might just be taking things a little too far, in my opinion.

Historical Map: New York Metropolitan Transit Authority 1968 Plan for Rail Improvement and Transit Expansion

July 15, 2013
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Courtesy of the new and already indispensable hyperrealcartography Tumblr, here’s a simply stunning set of New York transit planning maps from the late 60s.

In this modern age of computer-aided map design, a lot of time can be spent trying to digitally replicate this watercolour look, but it’s hard to beat the real thing (although Stamen’s lovely map tiles do a pretty good job!).

The north pointer – successfully and cleverly integrating the then-brand-new MTA logo – is also worthy of note.

Source: hyperrealcartography

Unofficial Map: The Noland Trail Transit Map, Newport News, Virginia

July 15, 2013
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jonahsmaps:

While I was working the original version of the Noland Trail Map, I had the thought to do an alternative edition of the map for fun. Enter, the Noland Trail Transit Map. Transit map versions of existing non-transit locations have been fairly popular this year, and i challenged myself to make one in ArcMap. Overall, i love the look of the final product, and i’ll throw a plug over to Transit Maps where i spent some time looking for inspiration.

The transit map edition of the Noland Trail map took about 2 nights to complete, and of course, proud to say it was done completely in ArcMap 10.1.

This version is available on my imagekind shop.

Transit Maps says:

This is certainly a nifty “transit” map that Jonah Adkins, a GIS Professional from Newport News has put together. Having mile markers and bridges as the “stations” on the trail – actual, physical landmarks – is a smart move and helps make the map very usable as well as attractive.

As very minor notes, I’m not overly fond of the right-aligned text for the park information, although I can see why it’s been done that way. There’s also a couple of weird, inconsistent curves on the top left hand side of the map: Museum Drive has a couple of sharp angles in it, as opposed to the gentle curves used elsewhere, and Museum Drive and the Noland Trail itself nest poorly just above the South Entrance “station”. But – these are very minor quibbles indeed!

And you should also really go and look at Jonah’s actual map of the trail, which is abso-freaking-lutely gorgeous, and shows what GIS is capable of in the hands of a skilled practitioner.

Photo – Official Map: Prague Metro In-Car Strip Map

July 12, 2013
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Following on from the Lisbon commuter rail strip map feautured recently, here’s another excellent example, this time from Prague. Design-wise, it fits in well with the standard Metro/tram map, but is remarkable for its incredibly effective use of space. The three route lines fit beautifully into the space, and the interchanges between the lines in the centre of the map are simply gorgeous. The inclusion of icons for popular landmarks/attractions is welcome and useful (as well as consistent with the standard map), as is the simplified geographical layout of the system to the right of the strip.

Our rating: A model for all in-car strip maps. Legible, easy to follow, useful. Four stars.

Source: ralpherga/Flickr

Submission – Official Map: Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes, Wales, 2013

July 11, 2013
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Submitted by coto524, who says:

This is a map for the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes, a network of commuter lines serving Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.

Although the map certainly makes a decent effort, it feels a little bland and half-hearted. The handling of the Welsh and English seems careless, and the irregular angle between Bridgend and Rhoose Cardiff International Airport is just off. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Transit Maps says:

I think you’ve absolutely hit the nail on the head here with your assessment. This is just an incredibly generic map that could be from anywhere and ends up looking like it’s from nowhere at all. I think that part of the problem stems from the fact that the operator, Arriva Trains, runs different service franchises all over the UK, and has to churn out a bunch of very similar maps for each of them. From a quick internet search, it seems the map for Arriva’s Chiltern Railways is also similarly bland, for example.

I think the Welsh language information is handled competently: it’s only shown if the name differs between the two languages. Interestingly, as a private operator, Arriva is not required by law to provide information in the Welsh language, so it’s nice that they choose to do so.

The icons on the map, unfortunately, are a pretty mixed bag. The red car to denote a park-and-ride facility is simply awful, while “TVM” in a black box for an automatic ticket vending machine is definitely an uninspired and lazy choice.

I’d also really like to see something in the legend that ties the route colours to the actual names of the lines. In real life, there’s no “light blue” line; it’s the Butetown Branch Line… and so on. The name of the line is pretty important information, so why isn’t it shown in any way on the map?

Finally, yes: that weird kink in the line at the bottom left of the map is weird, uncalled for and incredibly visually distracting.

Our rating: A perfect example of a paint-by-numbers transit map. Competent, but as dull as dull can be. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Arriva Trains Wales Route Maps – link no longer active

Historical Map: New York City Transit System Morning Peak Flow, 1954

July 11, 2013
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A beautiful old map showing scheduled morning peak service (both actual service and absolute maximum capacity) into Manhattan below 60th Street. The thicker the lines, the greater the service – much like modern service frequency maps! Being 1954, the subway is still divided into its three separately run divisions: BMT (Yellow), IRT (Blue) and IND (Red).

Source: Ward Maps’ Facebook Page

Photo: Charing Cross Road, London, 1995

July 9, 2013
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What a fantastic photo!

More than anything, it illustrates how people actually use maps in real life. Now that a destination has been reached via the Tube, a street map is required for the next stage of the journey. There’s some serious study of that map going on here!

Also, look at the Tube map on the wall behind our geographically-challenged subject. Charing Cross Road goes right past Leicester Square tube station, where I’m almost certain this photo was taken. You can see that countless fingers have instinctively pointed at that station on the map as people start to physically trace their route. As a result, Leicester Square has been completely worn away, leaving a big grey hole on the map at that location (right in the middle of the map if you’re not familiar with London).

Source: David Solomons/Tumblr

Historical Map: Oakland-San Francisco “Key System” Commuter Rail Routes, c. 1939–1940

July 8, 2013
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A charming, if simplistic, map of commuter rail services offered by the Key System company. Some sources on the Internet date this to 1941: however, the prominent “Exposition Ferry from Ferry Bldg.” callout box would seem to link this map to the timeframe of the Golden Gate International Exposition held on Treasure Island between February 1939 and September 1940.

These dates mean that the Bay Bridge, the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco and the transbay commuter rail routes as shown on the map are all pretty much brand spanking new. By 1958, commuter rail over the Bay Bridge had ceased operations: the Key System replaced these services with buses, and were themselves taken over by AC Transit in 1960. AC Transit’s B, C, E, and F lines still roughly follow the corresponding Key System routes today.

Source: shanan/Flickr

Official Map: Commuter Rail Strip Map, Lisbon, Portugal, 2013

July 8, 2013
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A lovely above-door strip map from Portugal’s capital. By sacrificing geographical reality (only the Tagus River gives any sense of orientation), the three lines are able to be laid out for maximum clarity and legibility. The comprehensive legend has symbols for connections to the Metro, the private Fertagus commuter rail line to Setúbal, ferries, and buses. It even has a “camera” icon for stations with points of interest nearby, and a little “umbrella and beach towel” indicating stations with connections to the Atlantic Coast beaches.

If I had one complaint, it’s that the green oval indicating the centre of Lisbon looks a little overbearing and tacked-on compared to the simplicity of the rest of the diagram.

Source: loose_grip_99/Flickr