Submission – Fantasy Map: Los Angeles Metro in the Style of the 1972 New York Subway Map by Cullen McCormick

January 4, 2017
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Submitted by Cullen, who says:

A few months back you answered a question of mine with some tips for preparing artwork for inkjet printing. Everything printed great, so thanks again for your help! Thought you might enjoy seeing the finished map.

Transit Maps says:

I always say that if you’re going to do an “in the style of” map, you should aim to replicate the source as closely as possible. That’s how you learn what made the original map tick, and that can help inform your future design decisions. And Cullen’s map has certainly nailed the look and feel of the original 1972 Vignelli New York Subway Diagram perfectly – from the colours and the typography, right down to the 10×10 grid and the reworking of the LA Metro’s logo to pay homage to the 1970s NYCTA logo (a very nice touch!).

The map itself shows a potential near-future Los Angeles after the completion of the Regional Connector: note that the Blue and Gold lines have been realigned (with the Gold merging with the current Expo line), and all the routes have been assigned letter designations. These letters and routes come from this 2015 Metro report (PDF), and certainly help complete the “New Yorkification” of this diagram. What’s a real city without an “A” train, right?

Our rating: Pretty much perfect. Five stars.

Official Map: Victorian Train Network, Australia, 2017

January 4, 2017
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I’ve got a whole slew of requests for a review of this recently released map, so hold onto your hats! First off, this map is the final result of a three year process – Transit Maps reviewed an initial concept back in April 2014 – so it’s definitely taken a while to reach this final form. The gradual adoption of a new corporate identity for Public Transport Victoria (PTV), complete with a custom typeface called “Network Sans”, may have had something to do with this long gestation.

Overall, I really quite like this map. It’s technically well-drawn and pleasingly compact and is definitely an improvement over the old two-colour zonal Metro map. The new map uses colour coding for routes, but it’s more akin to the New York Subway map’s “grouping by shared trunk line” technique than the London Underground’s “every route gets its own colour” approach. The hub-and-spoke nature of the network means that this isn’t really a problem, though, as the lines don’t really interact with each other away from the CBD. A definite advantage of this approach is that there’s less lines to draw through the City Loop!

(As a side note, the 2014 draft map did a much better job of showing that the Alamein Line operates as a shuttle to Camberwell at non-peak times; that information is relegated to the legend here. Show, don’t tell!)

A question I’ve been asked: should this map show regional trains (which cover much of the entire state of Victoria) on the same map as Melbourne’s metropolitan rail service? I will say that it’s unusual to depict these two different types of services on the same map, but I think it works here for a few reasons.

One: regional trains act as commuter rail from some satellite suburbs just outside Melbourne, like Bacchus Marsh or Heathcote Junction. These areas lack Metro service, but are still within fare zones 1 and 2, shown as the white area on the map. 

Two: the networks mostly share the same myki fare system (and the map clearly indicates where an old-school paper ticket is required at the truly distant ends of the line), so the two systems act as an integrated whole. And if you’re going to go to the trouble of having a fare system that covers pretty much the whole state, then I think you can show all the rail services that use it on the same map.

Three: the grey shading used to denote fare zones 3 through 13 (i.e., “Not Melbourne”) also acts as a clear boundary between the more geographical central part of the map and the schematic representation of the rest of Victoria. Yes, it’d be nice if Albury was closer to the top of the map than Shepparton, but it’s not hugely important for the purposes of this map. 

Perhaps the only thing “wrong” with this approach is that the equal visual treatment of Metro and V/Line implies an equal level of service in terms of frequency, which almost certainly isn’t true, especially the further from Melbourne you get. A lighter colour or maybe grey for V/Line, or a thinner route line, could alleviate this problem somewhat, but PTV have made it pretty clear that purple is the official colour they’re using for regional services, as seen on this map reviewed in November 2015.

One other minor technical thing is that the grey used for the grid lines is almost as dark as the text used for station labels, and can interfere with readability in some instances. At Batman station, it almost looks like a strikethrough!

Our rating: A definite improvement! An unusual approach that combines metro services with regional trains, but I think it does a pretty decent job overall. Three-and-a-half stars!

Source: Public Transport Victoria website (PDF)

Official Map: Commemorative Second Avenue Subway Vignelli Diagram

January 4, 2017
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Hey, everyone! Happy New Year!

Thanks to just about everyone for sending me pictures of this commemorative Vignelli-style New York subway diagram that was released when the Second Avenue Subway (finally) opened. My spies on the ground in New York are sending me a physical copy as we speak, which is awesome.

This revised design was carried out by Massimo Vignelli’s proteges, Beatriz Cifuentes and Yoshiki Waterhouse, who have been entrusted with the stewardship of the design moving forward. This marks the start of the third distinct phase of the diagram’s evolution: the 1970s original, the 2008-2012 revival under Vignelli, and now this latest iteration. It looks like it’s in good hands, at least!

Photo courtesy of Chris Bastian.

Historical Map: Points of Interest Reached by the Yellow Cars and Coaches, Los Angeles, 1938

December 22, 2016
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A charming illustrated map – attributed to artist Ruth Taylor White – showing landmarks and destinations that could be reached on the Los Angeles Railways’ electric streetcars and motorcoaches, some of which are shown traversing the streets of the city. The LARY’s headquarters at 1050 South Broadway are shown at the centre of the map (#36). Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find the numbered key to the map, but most of the points of interest are well drawn and quite self-explanatory.

Source: Los Angeles Magazine CityDig

Circuit Board Tokyo Rail Map iPhone Cases

December 21, 2016
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Today’s installment of “Shut Up and Take My Money” showcases these simply stunning printed circuit board iPhone cases that represent the rail network of Tokyo by Japanese company MOECO. From their website (via Google Translate):

I drew a railroad line in Tokyo with the wiring pattern of printed circuit board. Designed with board CAD, electronic components are mounted on board. Genuine board, genuine electronic parts. The pattern is gold-plated.

A 3.2 mm red LED at Tokyo station, 2 mm resistors at 7 main stations, 1.6 mm resistors at 29 stations with 29 getting on/off stations, 1 mm at 1 transit station 213 station, 1.6 mm at a station We have installed capacitors. We are implementing electronic parts in total of 251 stations.

Gold plated board. After mounting the electronic parts, we seal it with super clear resin (part of electronic parts may be exposed). In addition, the surface of the black resin case has been painted with soft paint that does not scratch easily.

All I can say is that these look absolutely incredible. Starting at 12,000 yen (around $100), they’re certainly not cheap… but wow. Take a look through their site for other cities as well.

Source: MOECO website

Unofficial Map: The Alaska Marine Highway Highway by Daniel Huffman

December 14, 2016
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Submitted by Daniel, who says:

The Alaska Marine Highway System is (to an outsider like me) super confusing. Their website has a map, but it doesn’t indicate which ferries connect which towns. But, this information is vital if you want to book passage — it appears to me that you can’t simply select two towns and hope that the system will route you along multiple ships; you have to know exactly which route and connection you want. You could spend a while (as I did) digging around the ship schedules, but there they don’t tell you the names of the towns, instead using 3-letter codes. I’m not sure how people manage to figure it all out.

So, I decided to try and organize some of this information for fun. The schedules and ships seem to change a fair bit, so I expect this one is already uselessly outdated, but I enjoyed the exercise. Useful information that’s missing: which direction the ships are going on one-way connections, as well as service frequency (some of these voyages happen daily, some happen every couple of weeks). Perhaps I’ll pick it back up again someday and work on those issues =).

Other random notes: The type is set in Mostra Nuova. I’ve vastly distorted the scale of the Inside Passage to try and capture all the complexity there. The linework is all simplified based on circular arcs and straight lines.

Transit Maps says:

For those who aren’t familiar with his work, Daniel is a real cartographer, and a bloody good one at that. He’s responsible for these subway map-styled maps of the rivers of America (which actually predate this blog, which is the only reason I haven’t featured them), and one of my absolute favourite maps ever: a linearized Lake Michigan. He’s also extremely generous with his knowledge of the technical aspects of mapping in the computer age – check out his #practicarto tag on Twitter for all sorts of bite-sized tips and tricks.

Now, onto the map! Daniel’s absolutely right when he says that trip information on the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) website is difficult to find and make sense of. They break the system down into three regional areas, rather than providing any route information, and their map just draws undifferentiated blue route lines between destinations with no indication where each route begins and ends. 

So Daniel’s map fills in the information gap quite nicely, with routes shown clearly and distinctly. An obvious addition would be an explicit mention that the map shows summer sailings, as services are heavily reduced in the harsh Alaskan winter. The simplified coastline is neat and stylish, though the Art Deco typography is perhaps a little too upscale for a ferry service that allows passengers to camp in a tent on deck if they don’t feel like paying for a cabin. Still, it certainly lends a very distinctive air to the map! I also really like the smooth, organic curves that the routes take between ports: these always look better on water transportation maps than straight lines to me.

One minor complaint with the geography of the map is that the distance from Bellingham, WA to Ketchikan is a little too de-emphasized: it takes almost 40 hours to travel between these two ports via ferry. Also, the colours of the two routes that travel down to Bellingham – the Columbia and the Kennicott – are lacking a bit of contrast and can be a little hard to differentiate when they butt up to each other. The green that Daniel has chosen for the Kennicott is certainly bright, but it also creates some visual dissonance with the grey background, especially with the smaller type in the legend.

Speaking of colours, it’s interesting to note that the schedule grids on the AMHS website define colours for the ships, most of which are different to the colours that Daniel has chosen to use. In the example above, the Columbia would be a pinkish red, while the Kennicott would be purple: perhaps offering better contrast than Daniel’s solution? It would certainly be interesting to see a version with the official colours, just to tie the two sources of information together a little more.

Historical Map: Horse Omnibus Lines of Paris, France, c. 1830

December 13, 2016
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Here’s an interesting find! This is the oldest original transit map that I’ve ever come across, showing the nascent horsedrawn omnibus lines of Paris in the early 19th century. The original source of the map – the State Library of Victoria in Australia, of all places! – tentatively dates the map to 1828, the year that the buses first made an appearance in the city. However, I’d be inclined to place it a little later for a couple of reasons. 

Firstly, the price for a single trip is clearly shown as 30 centimes, but when the first line opened in 1828 the price was only 25 centimes. Secondly, as shown in the last image above, there are eleven competing companies at the time this map was made. There were only ten such companies in 1829, and by 1836 there were 16 – so it makes sense to place the map between those dates (but closer to 1829).

Of particular note is the name of one of the companies: Omnibus – the original Paris concessionaire, following in the footsteps of a successful operation in Nantes that opened in 1826. It is from this company that all modern buses derive their name, although the precise etymology of the original article is uncertain, with one rather fanciful tale involving a hatter’s advertising signs. Perhaps more likely is that this was simply transport “for all”… which omnibus is the Latin for.

What’s really striking about this map is how wonderfully familiar it looks. Here’s a map that’s almost 200 years old, and it has bright colour-coded route lines superimposed on a geographical map of the city. Admittedly, they’re very roughly hand-painted onto a preprinted sheet, but this is essentially the very same format as modern bus maps, which I find quite remarkable.

Our rating: Ancient and modern at the same time. 5 stars! 

Prints of this fascinating map are now available at the Transit Maps print store!

Source: State Library of Victoria

Submission – Unofficial Future Map: Metro and Train Connections in Amsterdam by Alain Lemaire

December 3, 2016
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Submitted by Alain, who says:

A map of the combined metro and train network around Amsterdam, showing train services for 2017 (metro line 52 is still not operational). I made this map to show how both metro and train form an integrated network within the region. For that reason, I combined different train services when they use the same line and stop at the same stations within the region portrayed. This map might for example be useful for tourists wanting to get from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal. The key to the right also highlights which services call at any of the three major stations in the region (Centraal, Zuid and Schiphol). Analogous to the Paris metro and RER map, I used pastels for train services and saturated colors for metro lines (as they’re officially used).

Transit Maps says:

Oh, I do like this, Alain! 

Stylish and smart, and packed full of useful information. I can definitely see something like this being deployed at Schiphol to help orient tourists. Personally, I had more trouble with the random guy trying to sell me his “unexpired” train ticket than I did with navigating the trains to Centraal when I was last in Amsterdam, but every bit of extra help is welcome. I especially like the reference matrix of major stations to the right: a very nice addition!

If I have one complaint, it’s that the pastel colours are just a little too light. It’s especially noticeable on the Intercity train labels, which have pastel type against a white background. That very low contrast can make those labels difficult to read, especially for the yellow and orange lines.

Personally, I’d also prefer that the NS lines follow the curve of the M50 Metro line between Sloterdijk and Isolatorweg instead of having their own radii – just because I think it looks neater – but I can see why Alain might want to separate the different service types there as well.

Our rating: Apart from the lightest colours not offering enough contrast for labels, this is an excellent little map that shows how the Metro and rail complement each other in and around Amsterdam. Four stars!

Submission – Fantasy Map: Future Rapid Transit of Canberra, Australia by John Roberts

December 1, 2016
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Submitted by John, who says:

A fantasy map imagining Canberra’s (newly under construction) light rail system and a fantasy rapid and feeder bus network at some point in the future. I wanted to address Canberra’s notorious reputation as a spread out and car dominated city and make the map about finding fast and simple connections to high quality public transport corridors. As such I’ve steered away from an over-reliance on geography that the current Transport Canberra bus map has, and focused on highlighting the North-South and East-West corridors proposed for the light rail, which form the central X of the diagram, and which are conceived as developing as the main high-medium density corridors of the city into the coming decades. The angles of these corridors are based on Canberra’s famous axial geometric and functional layout, which makes the diagram more geographically accurate within the older central area of the city while making it more schematic in outlying suburban areas.

Supplementing the two light rail corridors are a proposed network of rapid buses, utilising routes already mooted for new rapid services by the ACT government. These connect the Western town centres, bypassing the city, and pick up two other East-West connections between Weston Creek, Woden and South Canberra, and North-West Belconnen and North Canberra respectively. In order to distinguish these rapid bus routes from light rail services, the colour scheme of these lines is reversed, with dark colour on light, rather than light on dark. A free tourist bus connecting national attractions is highlighted in a mid-tone of green, distinguishing it as an important element distinct from the commuter system, but following the same logic of dark on light.

Suburban areas have been ‘rationalised’ as a grid of suburban centres with a coordinate system defined by each ‘arm’ of the rapid transit system. The scheme then proposes a simpler and more legible network of feeder buses which loop through this grid and return to the relevant transport corridor, providing coverage services to areas not serviced directly by the rapid network.

Compared to the ‘spaghetti bowl’ of routes on the current map this is designed to make connections between existing suburbs and rapid corridors far easier to follow and utilise. These services are rendered in a thinner grey line to give them a lower visual hierarchy compared to the rapid network, and indicate that they are generally of a lower frequency.

Important destinations such as hospitals and universities are marked, as well as locations of bike and ride and park and ride facilities, to again encourage connections from existing suburbs. The number of each transport line is marked in a roundel at the start and end of each line.

Transit Maps says:

Overall, this is quite a beautiful map, nicely balanced and striking a good compromise between a geographical centre and schematic outlying regions. It’s amazing how well the shape of Lake Burley Griffin and the outline of the Parliamentary Triangle work together to orient the reader properly – minimalist design that informs without being overwhelming or too distracting. Nice!

The reversal of colours to distinguish between LRT (dark background, light station dot) and BRT (light background, dark station dot) is okay, although the difference between the three BRT lines – white, light blue and light teal – is a little difficult to distinguish.They could stand to be a little darker, I think.

I also feel that the colours of all the the route roundels could be reversed to match the style of the route lines: Route 1′s roundel should be a red background with white type to match the red line with a white station marker, and so on. For me, there’s a visual disconnect between the lines and their respective roundels that this change could fix, especially with the paired “A” and “B” lines, which are both blue. Here, the light roundel refers to the dark line, and the dark roundel refers to the light line!

Similarly, I’m not too sure about John’s naming system at the moment, which is numbers for north-south routes and letters for east-west. This means that “1″ and “B” are LRT routes, while “A”, “2″ and “3″ are BRT. Yes, they’re all rapid transit routes, but John’s made a visual distinction between them on the map, so I think the nomenclature could follow accordingly.

Finally, the little grey “P” and “B” for park-and-ride and bike-and-ride facilities can get a little lost and could benefit from being made to look a little more icon-like and official. Maybe in boxes to differentiate them from all the circles that are already on the map?

Our rating: Really quite superb, with just a few little hierarchy/naming tweaks needed to make it even better. Four stars!

2016 “Transit Maps” Gift Guide – Books!

December 1, 2016
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A selection of great books at least tangentially related to transit maps and transit design. A note: some of the links below are Amazon Affiliate links – if you make a purchase after following one of these links, I make a small commission on the sale. An easy way to help support the site!

Johnson and Gill: Very British Types by Mark Ovenden. A intertwined history of two of the most recognisable British wayfinding typefaces: Johnston Sans (as used by the London Underground) and Gill Sans (as used by the LNER and now just about everyone).
$79.99 as a pre-order on Amazon.

While we’re talking about Mark Ovenden, I still highly recommend the new edition of Transit Maps of the World. A reprint has corrected a few of my complaints from my initial review, so it’s even better now! 
$23.33 on Amazon.

Frank Pick’s London by Oliver Green is an in-depth look at the visionary man who brought about the London Underground as we know it today.
$33.17 on Amazon.

Maps of London’s Transport by John Dodd. A superb collection of first-half 20th Century maps of train, bus, coach, tram and Underground maps. Some have never before been published!
$42.06 on Amazon

British Rail Designed, 1948-1997 by David Lawrence. A beautiful look at the history of graphic and industrial design of British Rail post-World War 2. I’m really looking forward to getting this for myself.
From $28.60 on Amazon.

Or you can get the reissued facsimile of the iconic 1965 British Rail Corporate Identity Manual instead. This one looks superb!
£75 from britishrailmanual.com

Speaking of identity manuals, the compact edition of the facsimile 1970 Unimark/New York MTA Standards Manual is simply superb.
standardsmanual.com

Peter Lloyd’s Vignelli Subway Maps is still the definitive work on that most divisive of transit maps.
$34.99 on Amazon.