Photo – Official Map: Fujikyuko Line, Japan

November 6, 2012
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And now for something completely different… possibly the strangest official map I’ve ever seen (but oh so Japanese!). This map is for the privately-run Fujikyuko Line in in Yamanashi Prefecture, between Ōtsuki station and Kawaguchiko Station in Fujikawaguchiko.

The line runs through mountainous country and has spectacular views of Mount Fuji… hence the cute anthropomorphic mountains, I’m guessing. Which, awesomely, also carry across onto the livery of the rolling stock as well.

Despite the overall weirdness of the map, it actually works quite well: the thick red line shows express service, and the black and white dashed line shows local trains. Easy!

Our rating: Five stars for being unique, very strange and altogether awesome.

Source: rorro160279/Flickr

Fantasy Map: London Underground Map from “The Escapist”

November 5, 2012
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Here’s another transit map made as a prop for a film, but with considerably more style and skill that the weird alternate universe DC Subway map for “Leverage” featured a while ago.

At first glance, this prop – made for the 2008 film, “The Escapist” – looks like an exact replica of Harry Beck’s unusual and short-lived 1941 London Underground diagram, which uses 30- and 60-degree angles and “Olympic Ring” style station interchanges. Everything is almost identical, even down to the “H.C. Beck” in the lower left hand corner.

Everything, that is, except for the addition of one station, “Union Street”, just east of Elephant & Castle on the Northern Line, which is a fictional disused Underground station that plays a part in the movie. The name of the station is even completely plausible, as the real Union Street in Southwark is perfectly located between Elephant & Castle and Borough stations. Fantastic attention to detail there!

In reality, the filming for the scenes set at “Union Street” was done at Holborn tramway station in the disused Kingsway tramway tunnel. This map, as well as fake “Union Street” LU roundels are still there today, glimpsed only on infrequent public tours.

Source: steve_w/Flickr

Photo – Official Map: Portland Streetcar Strip Map

November 2, 2012
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A first look at the new in-car strip maps for Portland, Oregon’s streetcar system. With the opening of most of the eastside loop, there are now two lines: the original route is now the North/South (NS) line, and the new track is the Central (CL) line.

Unfortunately, for a brand new service that the city desperately wants everyone to like and use, the design of this map is terribly dowdy and old fashioned. There’s some good information there – I particularly like the inclusion of all the bridges over the Willamette River – but it’s just all crammed in with no room for anything to breathe. It may be usable, but it’s definitely not pretty.

Source: carrythebanner/Flickr

Photo – London Underground, Bond Street

November 1, 2012
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Note the fantastic station identification here – the roundels containing the station name are perfectly positioned to be visible to riders as the train pulls into the station. Lots of other transit systems could learn from this, not mentioning any names (*cough* BART *cough*)!

And the Central Line map on the wall looks big enough to be read from the moon.

Source: josericardodavid_o/Flickr

Photo – Yarn Tokyo Subway Map

November 1, 2012
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Created by long-time Transit Maps follower, Zac Landis, this is exactly the sort of thing a transit nerd should do with a blank wall. Using just yarn and push-pins, Zac has recreated the Tokyo subway map in all its complexity. Looks great, and (only) took him 15 or so hours to do. Love it!

Source: Zac Landis/Flickr – link no longer active

Official Map: Post-Hurricane Sandy New York Subway Map, November 1, 2012, 6am

October 31, 2012
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Quite frankly, I’m amazed that even this much of the subway is running so soon after Sandy. It may not be the most attractive map in the world, but the MTA produced it fast, and that’s what counts in situations like this.

Photo – Bus Maps Can Be So Hard To Read…

October 31, 2012
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Ha! Love the way the cracks under the remnants of the map seem to form their own roads and streets. Great title for this photo, too.

Source: JSDesign/Flickr

Historical Map: Transportation Map of Greater Winnipeg, 1941

October 30, 2012
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Here’s another beautiful vintage transit map, this time from Winnipeg, Canada. It’s around the same age as this great map from Portland, Oregon, and displays a similarly austere wartime aesthetic. The map is printed in just three colours (black, red and green) and – apart from some of the typography in the legend –  is entirely hand-drawn and lettered.

Important buildings and points of interest are all carefully and charmingly rendered, but the real winners for me are the numerous golf courses dotted around the city. On the fairways and greens are miniature golf players, most of whom seem to be having a very bad day on the course indeed.

Some other elements are slightly less successful, such as the poorly-drawn scroll around the downtown Winnipeg inset, but overall, this is a charming and whimsical map.

One final point of interest is the obvious replacement of the original streetcar network (solid green routes) by buses (red routes). By 1955 – just 14 years after this map was produced – the streetcar tracks were ripped up, and trolleybuses were phased out in 1970.

Our rating: A charming little slice of history. Red and green aren’t the best colours to use for differentiating service modes, but I doubt a lot of thought was put into that back in 1941. Ticked-off cartoon golfers elevate this to a four star rating.

Source: Manitoba Historical Maps/Flickr

Photo: Painted TTC Map

October 29, 2012
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Looking a little worse for wear…

Source: Paul Henman/Flickr

Photo: LA Metro Red and Purple Lines Strip Map

October 26, 2012
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the Los Angeles Metro system has one of the most coherent, unified transit agency corporate identities out there. It’s used intelligently and consistently across the entire system – from maps, station signage and onto their website and collateral. Distinctive without being extrovert, it displays information simply and effectively, and looks good while doing it.

Source: tracktwentynine/Flickr