Submission – Illustrated map of Qingdao Metro’s Line 3, China

July 19, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Submitted by Bailey, who says:

Here’s a map from of the Qingdao Metro for Line 3 – quite an interesting, stylistic one. For all the effort that went into the (quite brilliant) artwork, I’m surprised the station names are entirely unreadable near the city center.

Transit Maps says:

Despite the name, Line 3 is actually the first Metro line constructed in Qingdao, opening in two stages from 2015. In typical Chinese style, it’ll be joined by many more in just a few short years – by 2050, there will be 16 lines with a network length of some 836 kilometres (519 miles)!

Bailey’s right when he says that the illustration style is quite lovely, although one could argue that it’s presenting a very rose-tinted view of the city, with fields and trees shown everywhere as if in some bucolic pastoral idyll. What looks like a sunny beach in the bite-shaped area to the left is actually the city’s port –the seventh busiest in the world by volume handled. 

However, notable landmarks are incorporated nicely, including some of the old German colonial buildings from the late 19th century. Despite the busy feeling to the illustration style, the red route line stands out well, and the type isn’t quite as invisible as Bailey thinks.

Our rating: A rather pleasant little illustrated map, if just a little idealised. Three stars.

Source: Quingdao Metro website (link no longer active)

Historical Map: Manchester Ship Canal, England, c. 1928?

July 18, 2017
comments 2
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Not a “traditional” transit map, but it does show an important transportation network in a simplified strip map form, so that’s good enough for me! 

This absolutely gorgeous two-colour map straightens out all the kinks in the eponymous canal, presenting it as a dead straight line from one end to the other. The variable scale is indicated by the mile markers on either side of the map: the less interesting parts of the canal get condensed into very small spaces, while the important bits get more room (just like modern transit maps). 

Of particular note are the lovingly rendered bridges that cross the canal, each drawn individually and precisely. Their identifiable silhouettes act as landmarks along the canal, so this is a very nice touch.

The source of this map dates it at 1923, but it uses Gill Sans as its primary typeface. Gill Sans wasn’t released until 1928, so that date seems unlikely.

Our rating: Simply gorgeous. 5 stars!

Source: Cyber Badger

Historical Map: 1967 San Francisco Muni Rapid Transit Plan

June 23, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

I’m ever so slightly in love with this simple little map showing proposed rapid transit lines in San Francisco. There’s some lovely texture for the parkland, a nice vignetted effect for the coastline, and some great mid-century typography as well – all rather delightful! 

There’s a great information hierarchy as well, with buses being thin light blue lines, then trolley buses slightly thicker brown lines. Cable cars are shown by thin black lines that still appear visually stronger than trolley buses, and the proposed lines are unmissable thick black lines with stations clearly shown. There’s even a lovely little compass rose!

Our rating: A great example of a map doing sterling work with a judicious use of just a few colours, combined with a good information hierarchy. Four stars!

Source: Eric Fischer/Twitter

Submission – Official Map: Metro de Santiago, Chile, 2017

June 21, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Submitted by moon-monolith, who says:

This is the current map (as of May ‘17). This version has the definitive design for the newer lines under construction (Line 3 and Line 6). And finally, they’ve decided not to include the airport on the map, even tho’ there’s some rumors floating around that a planned extension of Line 1 or a new “Line 7” could reach it once and for all.

Transit Maps says:

This is a whole new look for the Santiago Metro diagram, previously reviewed in 2014 and 2012. The background is now grey, with a darker area representing the city proper. This works quite well, although the whole thing feels off-centred to me, with a large gap along the left edge of the page. 

The route lines are much thicker compared to the previous version, which is an improvement, although the new purple Line 6 takes a very wobbly path across the city to accommodate the slightly over-complex street grid that lies beneath the route lines. The long-overdue Line 3 finally makes an appearance on the map, though it’s still shown as under construction… beaten to the punch by the afore-mentioned Line 6.

I’m sad to see the removal of the BiciMetro and BiblioMetro icons, both of which seemed to me to be unique aspects of the Metro system (And yes, I checked – both programs are still running). And speaking of icons, is this map completely missing a legend?

Our rating: A new look that seems a little bolder and more confident than previous iterations. The street grid is a little fussy and overworked, but does the job. Loses some information about services compared to older maps. 3.5 stars.

Source: Metro de Santiago website (link no longer active)

Submission – Yorkshire Tourist Bus Map by Best Impressions

June 20, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Submitted by Ray, who says:

Here’s Best Impressions’ new tourist bus map for encouraging people to get out and about to explore Yorkshire using the Transdev bus network. The map is intended to highlight the richness of attractions and destinations in a pictorial style. It’s included in our our “Amazing Days in Yorkshire” leaflet, just released.

Transit Maps says:

While I don’t want to get in the habit of acting as a PR agent for various transit mapping/wayfinding companies, this attractive birds-eye map definitely caught my eye. It’s bright, colourful, and easy to understand, yet it’s also filled with enough interesting details to demand more detailed perusal.

The towns and sights of Yorkshire are shown with just enough unique detail to make them distinctive and easy to recognise, from the ruins of Whitby Abbey to the National Railway Museum in York, and more. I’m probably showing my age here, because I totally get the “Aidensfield Garage/police car” reference to the long-running TV series Heartbeat at Goathland.

If I have any minor quibbles, it’s that the perspective sometimes seems a little wonky and that – for me at least – everything looks a little too perfect due to the sharp vector-based illustration. A little bit of roughness and texture could perhaps have made things look a little less “shiny”.

Overall, though, I really quite like this map. In conjunction with the information in the accompanying leaflet, this provides a good overview of tourist-oriented bus services in and around Yorkshire. Also, you’ve gotta love Witchway and Bröntebus as names for routes! 3.5 stars!

Compare to this 1950s British Rail poster of Yorkshire.

Submission – New Houston METRORail Strip Map, 2017

June 16, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Photo submitted by Gram Brinson, who says:

They’ve somewhat improved it, I suppose…

Transit Maps says:

Yes, this is certainly an improvement over the previous version of this strip map (October 2016, 1.5 stars). In fact, it’s an almost point-for-point response to my criticisms from that review: removal of the large shaded areas denoting not-so-new lines, 45-degree angled labels instead of the neck-cracking 90-degree angles, and a very welcome reworking of the central stations inset that actually indicates which direction the Green and Purple lines run in along Capitol and Rusk streets.

The map still isn’t outstanding by any means, but it’s always nice to see simple improvements making a difference in usability. Two-and-a-half stars.

Fantasy Map: Roman Roads in 125AD as a Subway Map by Sasha Trubetskoy

June 6, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Fantasy Maps
Tags:

Here’s a map that’s right up my alley (I actually really wish I’d thought of doing it myself!) – a superb visualization of the major Roman roads of the second century AD. The legendary straightness of Roman roads makes them a great candidate for this style of diagram, and Sasha’s made it look very attractive, with a lovely colour palette and distinctive station dots. The very official-looking Roman Empire logos at the bottom left are also a nice touch.

You could argue that the Iberian peninsula looks a little huge and blobby compared to the rest of Europe, but this is a diagram, not a map, and even spacing of the cities/stations seems to be what Sasha is aiming for. The exclusion of Ireland and Scotland is a little more controversial – they weren’t technically part of the Empire, and Sasha says they were omitted for the sake of minimalism, but it just looks kind of weird for them to be completely missing.

He admits to taking a few liberties with routes and the names of some of the roads, but the Romans themselves didn’t always officially name these roads, while others had names that have been lost to the sands of time. Overall, this is a well-researched, nicely-designed map that holds a lot of interest for ancient history buffs. I love it – four stars!

Source: Sasha Maps website

Submission – Historical Maps: Trolleybus and Tram Diagrams of Kaliningrad, USSR, 1990

May 25, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Sent my way by Kyril Negoda are these two rather delightful little diagrams of trolleybus and tram services in Kaliningrad in 1990. This was just before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, so Kaliningrad Oblast was still physically connected to the rest of the USSR, rather than being an exclave like it is today.

Stylistically, the diagrams are very similar and have a pleasant, slightly childlike feeling to them. This is aided by the lovely slightly muted colour palette – not everything on a transit map has to be screamingly bright primaries!

Of the two, the trolleybus diagram (the first image above) is perhaps slightly more successful: the design hangs together better compositionally, and the whole thing seems a little better thought out than the tram diagram. The latter suffers a little from its labels pointing in pretty much every direction, as well as the slightly inelegant shape made where lines 1 and 8 join.

Overall however, these are pretty fantastic and a great example of late Soviet transit map design. Four stars!

Source: Trolleybus diagram | Tram diagram

GIF: The Evolution of Metro Systems in China and Taipei, 1990–2020 by Peter Dovak

May 20, 2017
comment 1
Filed Under:
Miscellany
Tags:

In the USA, new transit takes time. Whether it’s Environmental Impact Statements that take seven years to write, or tunnel boring machines that take longer than expected to do their work, or lawsuits from people angry that light rail might take away one of their beloved exit ramps, or mayors who want to rip up new streetcar tracks after they’ve been installed… the list goes on.

China, however, is a completely different matter… as this great timeline GIF from Peter Dovak illustrates. Using his lovely “Mini Metro” framework, he’s created a year-by-year breakdown of the growth of mass transit in China… and the end result is certainly breathtaking. Watch out especially from 2010 onwards, when the number of systems (and lines within individual systems) just explodes.

Source: Peter’s website (link no longer active)

Unofficial Map – Bay Area Rail One-Word Station Names by Brian Stokle

May 13, 2017
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Unofficial Maps
Tags:

A tongue-in-cheek rationalisation of Bay Area rail transit to remove all the slashes in those terribly long and indecisive station names: North Concord/Martinez, Warm Springs/South Fremont, etc. Amusing, but also a pointed look at the peculiarly American habit of attempting to appease everyone when it comes to naming stations.

Now, can someone do one of these for Washington, DC? 
*cough* U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo *cough*

Source: Urban Life Signs