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

July 15, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Unofficial Maps
Tags:

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
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

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
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

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
comments 2
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

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
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Miscellany
Tags:

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
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

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
comment 1
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

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

Historical Map: Société des Tramways de Constantinople Tram Ticket, c. 1920s

July 2, 2013
comments 2
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

A very interesting early topological transit diagram from Istanbul. It’s tricky to date precisely: the best I can do is the range 1923–1939, based on the lines shown and the fact that the STM was dissolved at the latter date when transit in Istanbul was nationalised.

It’s probably roughly contemporaneous with other early topological maps like George Dow’s work for the LNER in 1929, although I actually see this map being born out of necessity, rather than being any great pioneering design work. That’s because the map is printed on a small ticket, and was used by the ticket seller/conductor to mark the destination that the ticket is valid to. Note the blue marks on “Aller” and “Bechiktache” – this was sold as a one-way ticket to that destination. Obviously, a geographical map couldn’t fit into this tiny space, hence the necessity for this simplified topological representation.

The other interesting thing about this map is that Istanbul is flipped along the axis of the Golden Horn. Destinations that should be on the left of that waterway (looking at it on a standard map, with north to the top) are shown on the right and vice versa. The tram bridge across the Golden Horn is clearly shown on the map (as “Pont”, bridge in French). I know that Arabic reads from right to left: is this flipping of locations a concession to that?

Finally, I adore the little squiggly arrows that show how the lines connect between each stop.

Our rating: Amazing transit ephemera from the early 20th century. Five stars!

Source: Ottoman History Podcast/Flickr

Historical Map: Eastern Counties – South Norfolk Route Map, 1975

July 1, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

An interesting two-color bus map from 1975. Hot pink!

Strangely, while the service area boundary is heavily squared off and stylised, the routes themselves are presented very accurately. Really not the most usable map, as the route numbers are very difficult to follow from end to end. The meaning behind the dotted route lines also doesn’t appear to be explained at all on the map, but may be elsewhere in the timetable book in which this map appeared.

Our rating: Probably better when combined with the rest of the information in the timetable book, but doesn’t really work in isolation like this. Groovy mid-70s design, though. Two stars.

Source: Herbert Skardon/Flickr

Future Map: “ProjectConnect” Central Texas High-Capacity Transit Vision

June 27, 2013
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Future Maps
Tags:

I’ve featured a couple of dodecalinear maps recently (both for Amsterdam – here and here), but this future transit map for Austin and San Antonio has got ‘em covered. It’s a hexadecalinear map. That is, there are sixteen possible directions for a route line to head from any given point.

Interestingly however, the angles between the route lines aren’t evenly arranged. Instead of 0 – 22.5 – 45 – 67.5 – 90 degree arrangement, this map uses  0 – 26.5 – 45 – 63.5 – 90. Ultimately, it doesn’t make a huge visual difference, and the resulting grid is adhered to accurately. If anything, it helps to limit the width of the map because of the long diagonal line from Austin to San Antonio.

Normally, I’d say that a 16-directional transit map is total overkill, seeing as most maps only have eight directions to move in and manage perfectly well, but this actually looks very striking and effective while probably also more closely conforming to the actual geography of the area. The legend is also excellent, clearly delineating currently operating, planned and under construction routes for all the transit modes.

I’m not so keen on the completely unnecessary angled labels for many of the stations: there’s plenty of room for horizontal labelling on this map (it’s okay for the street names to follow the direction of the road). The project logo is also pretty blandly generic and doesn’t really fit in with the stylish look of the map itself (Neutraface at work again!)

Our rating: Attractive and full of promise for the future – hugely important in trying to affect a change of mind-set regarding transportation options in a auto-reliant area like Texas (where – like large parts of the U.S. – the most popular new vehicle is a Ford F-150). Four stars!

Source: Project Connect website