Historical Map: Trolley Map of Portland, Oregon, 1943

April 11, 2012
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It’s been a while since Transit Maps featured an historical map, so here’s one from my city of Portland, Oregon. This charming map was produced by the Portland Traction Company in 1943: check out their nifty monogram in the photo set.

While it’s labelled as a “trolley map” of Portland, it actually marks a point in time where streetcars and trolley buses were being replaced with cheaper to operate buses, and transit as a whole was on the decline, being replaced by the all-powerful automobile. In the early 20th Century, almost all of the routes shown on this map were streetcars, and many of them now correspond directly to TriMet bus routes. And now streetcar is on the rise again, with the east side loop almost completed and a network extending into the suburbs in the planning stage.

I’ve used this map as a basis for this poster, which overlays rail transit in Portland in the years 1912, 1943 and in 2015 (when the PMLRT is finished) – a fascinating view of the changing attitudes towards transit in the Rose City.

Have we been there? Home sweet home!

What we like: A comprehensive overview of services. The use of different symbols for each transit mode allows routes to be overlaid on each other quite clearly. Amusing and delightful little illustrations dot the map. Great fun to be had spotting changes to the city over the years: Union Avenue on the map is now MLK Avenue, the Morrison Bridge shown here is the predecessor to the current one, there’s an ironworks where the lower OHSU campus is now… and more!

What we don’t like: Downtown is a confusing jumble of crosses, dots, lines and numbers all crammed into a very small space with no idea given of route termini.

Our rating: Charming and breezy. Historically interesting. 4 stars.

Source: Vintage Portland

Unofficial Future Map: Seattle East Link Light Rail (Segment A)

April 10, 2012
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Hey, I got to make a transit map for work! This base map will eventually show all the issues (and solutions) that my company has identified for this part of the corridor, but I can’t show you that part, just the map itself.

These “issues maps” are usually created from GIS data overlaid on a low-quality aerial photo, so it’s definitely nice to break the mould and create something more visually compelling and stylish. I’m using 30- and 60-degree angles instead of the usual 45 degrees to match the topography of the land and route better: this is one of those rare occasions where it’s actually more appropriate.

Photo: Direzione Anagnina

April 9, 2012
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If the name of your station is in light grey, the trains from this platform are not going there. Simple but effective wayfinding signage from Rome’s Metro.

Source: Matt Taylor Hobbs/Flickr

Official Map: Rotterdam Metro, The Netherlands, 2012

April 9, 2012
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The very best transit diagrams have every element working in harmony to present a cohesive visual message. When even one element is out of place, a map can suffer. When that element is as important as the depiction of the region’s geography, the results can be disastrous, as shown by this map of Rotterdam’s Metro.

Have we been there? No.

What we like: The routes themselves are shown very clearly, with interchange stations and the National Rail system given the right importance. In fact, this would be a quite excellent example of European transit map design if it wasn’t for one thing…

What we don’t like: The hideous blurry background. Quite possibly the worst attempt at rendering geography on a transit map I’ve seen yet. It’s not realistic, it’s not diagrammatic, it’s just… fuzzy. I can only guess that the reasoning behind this was to make it clear that this is not an accurate to-scale rendering of the landscape, but it just ends up looking indistinct, out of focus, poorly executed and a jarring visual contrast to the clean diagram placed on top of it.

Our rating: A quality diagram poorly let down by a terrible background. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Official RET website

Unofficial Historical Map: An Animated History of the MBTA

April 5, 2012
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This is something you just have to look at: an amazing animated timeline of the Boston MBTA Subway over at Andrew Lynch’s Vanshnookenraggen blog (check out his future MBTA maps while you’re there).

To my mind, this work is far superior to the animated history of the New York Subway map that was floating around the interwebs a little while back: it’s clearly dated on the map, it’s fully annotated, and even has a slide show version below the animated GIF so you can flick through the years at your own pace. What’s fascinating to me is the almost complete reinvention of transit in Boston as the original elevated lines get torn down and replaced by subway.

An amazing work, and fully worthy of a 5 star rating. I’m not going to steal Andrew’s thunder by posting the full GIF here: click here to visit his site and watch the years roll by!

Official Map: Hong Kong MTR, 2012

April 4, 2012
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Opened in 1979, the Hong Kong MTR (Mass Transit Railway) has a very clean, easy to understand map that visually owes a debt to its previous colonial owners – the UK – via the London Tube map.

Have we been there? No (the airport by itself doesn’t count).

What we like: Clean and elegant, even with the bilingual requirements of the map. Some unusual but lovely colours for some of the routes, especially the teal used for the Airport Express line.

What we don’t like: The light rail network, which comprises some 69 stations, is relegated to a few random-looking lines with only stations that interchange with the MTR shown. I’m not sure what the meaning of the coloured marks inside interchange stations is: some are straight, others are curved, others cross over each other. An indication of platform layout, perhaps… but it all seems a bit unfathomable to me without any indication in the map’s legend.

Our rating: Simple, clean, effective. An excellent map. Four stars.

Source: MTR website

Unofficial Map: Amsterdam Metro and Railway Connections by Eric Hammink

April 4, 2012
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The simplified rectilinear grid is such a familiar form for transit maps that when we see something that breaks that mould, the results can be visually stunning. That’s certainly the case with this beautiful map from designer Erik Hammink, who uses the natural circular shape of Amsterdam’s canals to great effect.

Have we been there? Yes, although I’ve only used the tram network rather than the Metro service.

What we like: Lovely, minimalist European design, with echoes of 1930s Art Deco transit posters in its stylised, circular rendering of the IJ and the Amsterdam Metro type to the top right of the map. Beautifully clear and easy to read. I especially like the rendering of Amsterdam’s ring of canals, which orients the user perfectly.

What we don’t like: The need to adhere to the radial spoke design form means that some of the curves where routes change direction look a little uneven. The icon for Schiphol airport looks very large and out of character compared to the smaller, more elegant icons for the Metro and rail termini stations. The gradients behind the legends at the top of the map look a little modern and iOS-like compared to the beautiful retro feel the rest of the map has.

Our rating: Stunning work, especially when you also know that Eric has also produced a map of Amsterdam’s dense tram network that appears to fit onto the same radial grid. A true labour of love, and it shows. Four stars.

Source: Eric’s Behance project page 

Official Map: Maryland Transit Administration Regional Transit Map, 2012

March 30, 2012
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Here’s a large-format multi-modal map from the Maryland Transit Authority, centered on Baltimore. Contrast it against this previously reviewed map of similar scope from the Los Angeles Metro, and it can be seen that the MTA map has got a far better balance of design and usability, and is actually a quite superb and comprehensive map.

Have we been there? No.

What we like: Incredibly legible for such a dense map. It shows light rail, Metro, commuter rail (MARC services) and varying levels of bus service from multiple transit agencies, all overlaid on a nicely stylised street grid. Unlike the LA map, colors are used effectively to differentiate bus routes, meaning the routes themselves are much easier to follow. Bus route termini are also clearly marked, which helps immensely.

What we don’t like: CMRT Transit seems to get short-changed, with all nine of its routes sharing the same magenta colour, making the south-west corner of the map very pink, and those routes harder to make sense of.

Our rating: Shows how important the use of colour is to help people differentate between different routes of a similar service, especially in densely served areas. The palette used is fairly limited, but is used judiciously. Not a map for casual use, but provides a comprehensive and visually appealing guide to services in and around Baltimore. Four-and-a-half stars.

Source: MTA website

Official Map: Milan Metro and Suburban Rail Service, 2012

March 30, 2012
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Milan’s Metropolitana subway system is Italy’s largest, and is supported by a comprehensive network of suburban and regional trains. It’s also linked by an amazing tram system, but no indication of those services, or connections to it, are presented on this map.

Have we been there? Yes, although I didn’t use the Metro, preferring to walk around Milan’s dense historic core.

What we like: Use of blue for the thinner suburban rail lines gives them their own distinct look while still being subordinate to the more important Metro lines. Comprehensive set of informational icons, although this does lead to some “icon overload” at Centrale and Cadorna stations. Important information is in Italian and English. Good accessibility information.

What we don’t like: A total absence of curved corners on routes gives a very severe, almost formal look to the map, as does the all-caps typeface used (which, despite being a bespoke typeface created for this map, ends up looking very similar to Franklin or News Gothic). The tinted colours behind the terminus station names, while effective at differentiating those stations from normal stations, looks a little old-fashioned.

Our rating: While this map looks quite sterile, it presents information quite clearly. I also feel that this look is totally intentional, as the streets of Milan’s historic medieval core are twisty and narrow. The contrast between those streets and the more direct routing of the modern subway is effectively highlighted in this map. Three-and-a-half stars.

Source: Official ATM website

Official Map: Metro de Madrid, Spain, 2012

March 27, 2012
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Another map that asks the question: how much abstraction and geographical simplification is too much? From what I understand, this map of the Madrid Metro system has proved somewhat controversial since its introduction in 2007. Unlike most other diagrammatic maps, this one completely eschews even 45-degree angles: reducing the map to its most basic form – and one even further removed from the city’s underlying geography.

Have we been there? No, but would love to!

What we like:Clean, light and airy look. Definitely a map for a city that wants to place itself at the forefront of modern design and technology.

I absolutely love the way that interchange stations that have long walking distances between platforms are shown, and the estimated time is even indicated on the map (nine minutes to walk between the 4 and 6 lines at Diego de León station, for example). There are other systems – like New York and Barcelona – that could really use this on their map!

Limiting the colours denoting fare zones to the immediate area around the affected lines helps to keep the map clean and airy instead of having a big rainbow of concentric zones filling up the entire background of the map.

Symbology used on the map is very clear and distinctive. Available in separate Spanish and English (seen here) versions.

What we don’t like: Generally, the idea behind a diagrammatic presentation of a transit map is to smooth out the lines and evenly space the stations (wherever possible) so that a journey can be quickly and easily plotted by a user. Here, we have a strictly enforced 90-degree design and very unevenly spaced station names (the map is very empty in the centre, and extremely crowded out in the suburbs), both of which create a very stop-start, staccato feeling to the map. Any sense of relation to the actual geography city is lost – only the river and parks give any indication of that, and they aren’t particularly accurate either.

No accessibility information on the map, even though many of the older stations in the network are inaccessible due to their age.

Our rating: Visually bold and exciting, with some very nice ideas, but a lot of hard work to actually use. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Official Metro de Madrid website – English version