Great old map of Boston’s extensive commuter rail network. I really like the way the subway lines are included to give scale to the whole network, and I especially like the square that the main interchange stations on the subway lines make — an understated design choice that gives a nice central focal point to the map.
I suspect that the odd colours of the Orange and Red Lines are due to aging ink discolouration rather than being that colour originally.
Source: ck4049/Flickr
Just as I post about the in-car maps on Portland, Oregon’s MAX trains, I notice that TriMet has just released a new version (pardon the bad cell phone photo; I was getting off the train as I snapped it!).
The new map has two important changes from the previous one: JELD-WEN Field is correctly named (instead of the old PGE Park – showing exactly why commercial names on transit maps are a Bad Idea), and the South PSU stations are shown as opening later this year.
Although the map initially looks quite similar, there have been a lot of little tweaks and amendments. The route lines now have a thin gap between them, whereas they butted up to each other before. Stations are now denoted by a small white circle contained wholly within the route line, which works better than the big black-edged dots that made every station look like a transit station; although now perhaps there’s not enough emphasis on important stations.
I really miss the line that joins the Rose Quarter TC and Interstate/Rose Quarter stations – that one-block walking transfer is a hugely important part of the MAX system, and needs to be shown.
Not a big fan of the way that the Green Line has to cross over the Red and Blue to head south after Gateway, but the only other alternative is to cross the Green Line under the Red and Blue as the lines leave downtown (as I did on my Unified Rail Map of Portland), which may not be so practical on a map like this.
Overall, I think this map is a step in the right direction from the previous one, but it’s still not fantastic.
Following on from yesterday’s post, here’s an amazing resource for those of you interested in trains or 1960s corporate design. The Doublearrow website showcases almost the entire British Rail Corporate Identity Manual… not just its original 1965 release, but also additions and amendments released throughout the years, all the way up to 1985. This comprehensive document covers just about every aspect of the BR identity, from the symbol and typefaces through station signage, vehicle livery and staff uniforms. Definitely worth checking out!
A lovely example of British Rail’s house style of the 1960s and 70s, now residing at the East Anglian Railway Museum. This map is from between 1965 (the introduction of the “double-arrow” British Rail identity), and 1978 (when the “Eastern” component of the logo changed from sitting in an outlined box to a solid box like the British Rail text). Can anyone date it more definitively?
Source: Deptford Draylons/Flickr
In St. Petersburg, Russia. Actually, now that I come to think of it, the SNCF map in the ticket hall in Gare Montparnasse in Paris is pretty damn huge, too.
Source: 2 Girlz Loving Life/Flickr
Here’s a map that’s going to be seen a lot by tourists over the next few years as Rio de Janeiro hosts both the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. Will it stand up to such international scrutiny and join other transit maps as a definitive icon of its city?
Probably not.
Have we been there? No.
What we like: Suitably bright and exotic Brazilian colour scheme. Relatively clean and simple design.
What we don’t like: Poorly drawn route lines with some very uneven curves, which clash stylistically with the very straight “Subway Bus” route lines. Heavy-handed elements throughout the map, including very large and bold text for station names and enormous bicycle parking icons. Inconsistent placement of connection information: why is the “Cosme Velho” label placed below the station it connects to, when nearby stations have the label placed neatly to the side? Some absolutely hideous distorted text in the legend below the map.
Our rating: Not great. 2 stars.
Source: Official Metrô Rio website
Possibly the most abstract and colourful train route map I’ve ever seen. Looks like it’s from a commuter train in northern Poland (around Gdansk and Sopot). Major stations get a slightly bigger dot and their name in white. The overall effect is like a planet-heavy map of the solar system…
Source: szogun000/Flickr
I have to say that I’m not a huge fan of these in-car maps from my town of Portland. While they serve a purpose and fit in a very awkward vertical space, they’re neither elegant or match the design of the full light rail map. I particularly dislike the station symbol, which makes every stop — regardless of importance — look like an interchange station.
Source: localmn/Flickr
It’s been a good week for fantasy maps here on Transit Maps. Hot on the heels of the superb Freshwater Rail map comes this beauty from Michael Tyznik of his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. There’s an undoubted Massimo Vignelli 1970s New York Subway map vibe to this – Michael told me that this project actually began as an update of that map, but then morphed into another city altogether – but it still manages to look fresh and new, thanks to some subtle touches like updating the ubiquitous “subway map” geometric sans font with Akzidenz Grotesq and Gotham Black. If you have time, I’d definitely pay a visit to the map’s project page on Michael’s website where you can see the progression of his thoughts on transit in Columbus – from a fairly generic and bland concept that looks like it could be any city in the world, through an elegant-looking light rail system that utilises existing freight-rail right-of-ways, to this (final?) considered and intelligent piece. You can buy prints at Michael’s Society6 store.
Have we been there? No.
What we like: Looks great! The concept also looks plausible (to the eyes of someone who has never been to Columbus, at least!), and the amount of thought put into this map really shows.
The blocking out of localities is something that could look heavy-handed and forced, but comes across quite well. It definitely gives context to the routes. The dashed line treatment for the express routes is quite beautifully done: I especially like how there’s a neat little box around stations where the dash doesn’t show. Adding street names along the streetcar routes is a nice usability touch, especially when the routes convert from light rail to streetcar, reinforcing the differences between the services offered by the two modes.
What we don’t like: I’d like to see more differentiation between local and express stations than just whether the name is set in bold or regular text. I don’t think that this is enough of a visual clue for a transit map by itself – maybe a black station dot for express, and a white one for local could work.
While I understand why individual stops on the streetcar lines aren’t shown (stops are closer together and thus “beneath” the scale of this map), I think it would be useful to indicate where transfers between light rail and streetcar can be made. Examples of this include the 2, 3 and 4 where they cross the light rail lines at Union Station, the 2 and 3 at Morse Road on the “A” line, and the 3 at Easton/Stelzer Road on the “E” line. A simple line linking the lines may be enough to indicate that a transfer can be made.
Apart from these thoughts, there’s just a couple of minor quibbles: some of the rounded edges on the localities don’t seem to nest well with the curves of the river (look at the north east corner of Franklinton, for example), the letter designation circles for the “A” line are a different blue to the line itself (C75 M33 Y1 K0 compared to C67 M35 Y2 K0), and the gaps at the directional arrows in the one-way sections of the streetcar routes area a little wide for my liking.
Our rating: Excellent. Well-considered and thought out, stylish and attractive. A couple of usability issues that can be easily corrected. Thanks for sharing your map with us, Michael. 4 stars!
Source: Michael’s website
Following on from the previous post about Luxembourg, here’s another nationwide system map that resembles a subway map, this time for Luxembourg’s neighbour, Belgium – the land of beer, frites and Tintin!
Have we been there? Yes, during my European jaunt in 2003. I caught trains from Brussels to Ghent, Ghent to Bruges, Bruges to Ypres and Ypres back to Brussels.
What we like: Nice simplification of a relatively complex network. Major hubs are treated particularly well, especially Brussels – which is actually pretty clear even without the inset.Colour is used nicely to provide differentiation between adjacent route lines and zones (which don’t correlate to Belgium’s provinces, as far as I can see).
What we don’t like: The strange placement of elements on the page really detract from the map. The nationwide map could be larger, and the Brussels inset needs to be boxed in and highlighted better.The corporate branding in the bottom right is very average indeed. Orange is a terrible colour for a gradient effect. Awful treatment of the coastline and ocean.
Some odd route choices which may be technically accurate, but don’t help the map to read better. An example of this is the 12 route out of Antwerpen-Centraal, which loops all the way around Antwerp to the south and east before heading north through Antwerpen-Luchtbal towards Amsterdam. This may be what actually happens in real life, but do we need to see it on a simplified diagram to understand where the train goes?
Our rating: Solid effort, let down by some poor page layout. 2.5 stars.
Source: Official Belgian Rail website
