Project: 1954 Manhattan Rapid Transit Flow Diagram Digital Recreation

January 17, 2017
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I’ve long admired this beautiful 1954 flow diagram of subway service into Manhattan during the morning peak hour, so I set myself the personal challenge of recreating it using modern design tools (Adobe Illustrator) while still staying true to the original principles of the map.

While it was certainly possible to just trace the source material in Illustrator with the pen tool and end up with a decent facsimile of the original, there’s really nothing to be learned from doing so. I wanted to understand how the original diagram maker might have worked, and to see just how accurately the diagram represents the service numbers as shown on all the labels.

Using the map’s “Scale of Cars”, I was able to work out a formula that would give me the numerically accurate stroke width to use based on the numbers presented, which I then applied to all the different lines as shown on the map. The numbers held true throughout most of the map, with only the very thinnest lines (the lowest number of trains per hour) being slightly thickened on the map for clarity and ease of drawing. “Cheating” to get things to line up or add up only happens in a couple of locations across the map – mainly at complex junctions –  which is definitely a testament to the original designer’s skills.

Once I had drawn all my paths to the right width and placement for each subway division (BMT, IRT and IND), I expanded them out into polygons that I could then merge into compound paths for the final artwork. These shapes were then copied to a layer above the fills to be used as a basis for the black strokes used to define each route line.

Typography was actually pretty easy for this map, with everything being easily identifiable: Futura is the main labelling font, with the slab serif Rockwell being used for some locality information. Water features are labelled in Century Schoolbook Italic, and feature the only concession to modern design tools on the map – using a neat white stroke behind each letter to separate it from the stippled background rather than the clumsy cut-out rectangles of the original. Finding a good match for the Art Deco borough names was perhaps the hardest task – Neutraface isn’t exactly perfect, but it definitely evokes the right feeling.

A quick note on mid-century typography here: tracking is generally much looser than what we’re used to with modern digital typesetting (a setting of +60 to +80 in Illustrator’s Character palette was often required to get type to match the original, along with a fair bit of manual kerning), and word spacing is positively enormous, being just shy of two standard-width spaces in most cases, or close to an em-space. A couple of things to bear in mind if you’re ever after that “1950s look” to your typography!

After the hard work of drawing the route lines, it was then just a matter of tediously adding all the labels, arrows and underlying geography to the map. The stipple effect used for the water matches the original very nicely, and is actually a cartographic Illustrator pattern swatch that normally represents sandy areas on a map. The water “contours” are offset copies of the coastline path: on the original map, these would have been drawn by hand.

Overall, recreating this map was very enjoyable and instructive, and the end result is certainly quite beautiful. Let me know what you think of my efforts in the comments section below!

Historical Map: Sydney Rail Transport System Strip Map, c. mid-1970s

January 6, 2017
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Here’s a great old system map of Sydney’s suburban rail system from around the middle of the 1970s. It has to be from before 1978, as that’s the year that the Eastern Suburbs line opened, and it’s not shown here. I distinctly remember seeing a few of these in old “Red Rattler” carriages in the mid-to-late 1980s, so they lived on well past their “use by” date. As seen here, the maps lived above the windows in the main compartment of the carriage, and were quite large, around 5 feet by 1 foot or so. The noisy metal window blinds that gave the “Rattlers” their name are clearly visible below the map. 

As expected in a strip map like this, any relation to real-world geography is tenuous at best. South is to the left and north is at bottom right, but all the other lines have had to be splayed out to fit the narrow shape. In reality, the end of the orange East Hills line (top left) is quite close to Macquarie Fields on the (dark) green Liverpool-Campbelltown line (top right). However, the topology of the network is indicated fairly clearly and the hub-and-spoke nature of the network of the time allows this treatment to work.

Also of note is the interesting treatment of the City Circle, with alternating dashes of each line’s colours to indicate how each one makes a circuit of the loop before heading back out to the suburbs via Central. It’s not actually very accurate, as there shouldn’t be any North Shore line pink from Wynyard to Central via Museum (this line always crosses the Harbour Bridge after Wynyard), but I doubt it was ever meant to give a realistic idea of service patterns.

It’s also kind of fun to see all the little branch lines off the Western line to the abbatoirs, Sandown and Rope’s Creek. Of these, only the Carlingford line remains today. Finally, it’s always great to see the glorious 1970s NSW Transport “arrow of indecision” as well! Every good rail system needs a logo with arrows pointing in opposite directions, right?

Our rating: An early prototype of future Sydney rail maps, with most of the route colours already in the form they’d be in for the next 20 years or so. Type’s quite small, but the layout is clear and easy to follow for such an extensive network. Three stars.

Source: Dave Murchie/Flickr

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!