White space on maps may be good for readability, but not so much for jigsaw puzzles!
Photo: The Perils of a Tube Map Puzzle!
Submission – Official Map: DC Streetcar Strip Map, 2016
Submitted by Edward Russell, who says:
DC Streetcar has published a simple, straightforward strip map in the streetcars that began running a week ago in DC. Hopefully this is the beginning of a far larger streetcar renaissance in DC!
Transit Maps says:
I’m going to resist the temptation to comment on the protracted process that’s led to the delayed opening of this streetcar line. Nor am I going to enter into the whole streetcars in mixed traffic versus dedicated lanes debate. Instead, I’ll just talk about the map, which is – as Edward says – refreshingly simple.
Only eight stops means there’s plenty of room for nice, big, easy-to-read labels (set in what looks like Avenir), some “DC Streetcar” branding and handy accessibility information. Nice and easy does it. About my only complaints are the way that the route line continues past the two terminus stations, and the annoyingly inconsistent nomenclature for stop names.
None of the stops on H Street have that street appended to their name, but all the stops on Benning Road do. Even stranger, there’s a slash separating the street names at 15th St/Benning Rd and 19th St/Benning Rd, but it’s not Oklahoma Ave/Benning Rd. Pick a consistent naming method for your stops and stick to it, please!
Our rating: Simple and easy-to-read, if overall a little unmemorable. Does the job. Three stars.
Photo – Official Map: Montreal Metro Map, 2016
Spotted and photographed in the real world by long-time correspondent, Richard Archambault, who doesn’t hold back with his opinion in this tweet:
Transit Maps says:
I first heard that this map was getting a makeover back in October 2015, but said at the time that I would reserve my judgement until I saw the final map. This new version oddly isn’t yet posted on the STM’s website, so Richard’s photo will have to do, although the dirty and scratched surface certainly isn’t doing it any favours!
First things first: the most defining visual characteristic of the previous map – the way that the whole map, made up only of right-angled sections of routes, was then tilted 37 degrees counter-clockwise – has gone, replaced by a very standard octolinear diagram. Words can’t express how disappointed I am by this turn of events: a truly iconic design feature has been replaced by something completely and breathtakingly average. And the only “benefit” it really brings is to allow the middle section of the Blue line to run at a 135-degree angle compared to the rest of the line. The eastern Green line still stair-steps its way across the map, when it could run smoothly in one straight line until it simply flips northwards for the last few stations.
My other fear for this map has definitely been confirmed: the labels are tiny, especially compared to the old map. So now they’re small and set in an all-caps condensed typeface, all of which reduces legibility. The reason everything’s so small appears to be the label for Sherbrooke station – it can’t get any larger without cutting into the Green line, so it becomes the lowest common denominator. The terminus station labels are a little better, at least.
I really, really dislike the way that the commuter rail lines run right through the middle of Metro station markers when there’s no interchange available at that station. The old map avoided this by running the commuter rail lines off to the side of such stations, and also used a very visibly different station marker for interchanges – it almost was impossible to be confused. Now, the only visual difference between an interchange station and a non-interchange station is a thin grey ring around the interchange station’s marker, which is perhaps too subtle to be noticed on quick perusal. Overall, I do think the commuter rail lines are drawn slightly better than the previous map, though.
Our rating: A hugely missed opportunity for renewal that seems to discard one of the world’s most unique and identifiable transit maps for a completely average watered-down version of itself. A very disappointing two stars.
Historical Map: British Airways Worldwide Route Network, 1975
Via: airlinemaps:
A vintage British Airways worldwide map from 1975, just a year after the carrier was just created through the merger of BOAC and British European Airways (BEA).
This map is a fantastic airline-meets-railway design that could be on the Transit Maps blog. Routes to destinations connect to main trunk lines that by and far lead to London, more like the current British National Rail map than an airline route map. By not including any landmasses, BA can (and does) divorce itself from geographic logic and shows routes as it sees fit.
This is not the easiest map for a passenger to follow. BA did publish a more airline-network style map with the above diagram.
Compare it to this 1936 Imperial Airways map on Transit Maps.
Possibly one of the most abstract transportation maps I’ve ever seen, although I do find it quite visually pleasing with the strict usage of only three different angles. Working out exactly where in the world your destination is located is a bit of challenge, though…
Source: mpar21 on Flickr
Historical Map: Bus Map of Tokyo, c. 1950
Not a lot of geographical context here, although the central hub is pretty easy to discern. Does good work differentiating lines with a limited colour palette. Can anyone translate the legend at right that shows dashed/thin/thick lines? Is this an early attempt at frequency mapping?
Note: Thanks to all who have told me that the lines are thick for express routes, thin for normal routes, and dashed for “special” routes. So it’s service mapping, not frequency.
Source: Old Tokyo
Historical Map: Poster Promoting the Bakerloo Line Extension to Stanmore, 1939
By the mid-1930s, the London Underground’s Metropolitan line was suffering from congestion caused by the limited capacity of its tracks between Baker Street and Finchley Road stations. To relieve this pressure, a tunnel was constructed between the Bakerloo line’s platforms at Baker Street and Finchley Road and three Metropolitan line stations (Lord’s, Marlborough Road and Swiss Cottage) were replaced with two new Bakerloo stations (St. John’s Wood and Swiss Cottage). The Bakerloo line took over the Metropolitan line’s service to Stanmore on 20 November 1939, as noted on the poster.
The poster itself is a striking piece of graphic design, with bold colours, rough brushed typography and an unusual black variant of the famous roundel with the circle and bar separated from each other. The style of Beck’s diagram (then only 6 years old) is referenced, but not copied faithfully. Interestingly, the typeface used seems to be closer to Gill Sans than Johnston.
Update: The City of Luxembourg Adopts Jug Cerovic’s Bus Map!
Jug writes:
Hi Cameron, I have got some great news from the “maps as works of art” front:
Since yesterday Luxembourg has a brand new official bus map! Since last summer I have been working with the City of Luxembourg to adapt my map to their particular needs and now it is going live.
The main features of the map are:
- Geographic centre/schematic outskirts
- The pentagonal Old Town (Ville Haute) as a symbolic landmark in the center of the map
- All line angles are multiples of 18°, relating to the pentagon
- Frequencies: Thick line = high frequency, thin line = low frequency
- On the central corridor the lines are grouped by common direction and their frequencies are added. 19 lines turn into only 5, simpler to understand and navigate.
- Information hierarchy: bright colors for main lines, light colors for secondary tangent network.
- Cityscape: remarkable buildings, bridges, parks…
I am particularly happy and proud today, I finally managed to have a city adopt my map and seeing it on bus stations makes me full of joy 🙂
Transit Maps says:
A victory indeed, and one that I feel that I played at least a very small part in (as I wrote about both the terrible old map and Jug’s original alternative version before the story was picked up by other media both here in the States and in Luxembourg).
Still, the real credit here goes to Jug’s beautiful work and to the City of Luxembourg officials who saw that he had a better solution for their bus riders and worked with him to bring things to fruition.
Looking at the final map, it’s great to see how little has changed from Jug’s initial concept – a different typeface, some corrections to a few routes, a couple of colour changes and the addition of parks and some notable buildings. And I have to say that the map looks fantastic when installed in the bus stations, as seen in the photo above.
Congratulations to all involved!
Illustrations of the design process on Jug’s website (a must see!)
Historical Map: Vancouver City and Suburban Lines, c. 1930
Via: illustratedvancouver:
A Guide to Vancouver, the complete map by Peter Hugh Page, a pamphlet by BCER circa 1930, pre-Lions Gate Bridge. “BCER Takes you everywhere!” From the VPL Special Collections, SPEMAPC 388.46 V223b 1930
A charmingly breezy little map of streetcar, interurban rail and motorbus services in Vancouver in 1930. Hand-drawn by one Peter Hugh Page (even the BCER logo!), the map features a number of crudely drawn but amusing vignettes of life in the city. These include a crowded “sightseeing car”, an amourous couple in a park, and an assortment of golfers dotted around the map (in a very similar vein to this 1941 map of Winnipeg, Manitoba).
Submission – Historical Map: The Bogue Plan For Seattle, 1911
Submitted by SounderBruce, who says:
Of Seattle’s many, many unsuccessful attempts to build a rapid transit system, none sting more than the century-old Bogue Plan. Rejected by a landslide of 10,000 votes (out of 40,000 total cast) on March 5, 1912, Virgil Bogue’s ambitious comprehensive plan to convert the regraded remains of Denny Hill into a Beaux-Arts civic center reminiscent of European city centers would have been well served by 91 miles of rapid transit lines from as far away as Tukwila, Edmonds and Bothell. Bogue was not satisfied with the existing streetcar system, commenting that its frequent stops would not adequately serve future surburban riders; the streetcar network would be scrapped in favor of electric trolleybuses thirty years later.
Among the long list of specific routes was a subway under Third Avenue whose stations would have had entrances inside of mercantile establishments (familiar to users of Westlake Station). Other proposed corridors, such as the Ballard-U District and West Seattle lines, are now under consideration for the next expansion of Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail system, expected to be put to public vote in 2016.
Transit Maps says:
What a beautiful map! And what ambitious plans! It is to be noted here how many of the rapid transit lines were to be underground or elevated, with such lines spreading far out into the suburbs. Many of the general transit corridors seem very familiar even now, although a lot of that has to do with Seattle’s constricting geography. I’m intrigued by the split in line 5 around Green Lake (northbound to the east, southbound to the west?), while the routing of line 4 through Queen Anne just seems like the work of a madman.
Source: SounderBruce/Flickr
Historical Map: Planned Glasgow Subway Expansion Map, 2007
In the lead-up to hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow and the SPT came over all excited and proposed this spectacular “East End” expansion to the Glasgow Subway, potentially throwing away over 100 years of circumrevolutionary transit perfection.
As we now know, none of this ever came to fruition, saving everyone from having to call the expanded system “The Pair of Specs” (or something equally lame) instead of the current awesome “Clockwork Orange” sobriquet.
The map itself is nothing to write home about; a bare-bones future planning map that gets the idea across with a minimum of fuss and fanfare. It’s still very interesting because I hadn’t seen this map before, nor did I know that there was ever any thought to expanding this venerable system (the third oldest underground metro in the world after London and Budapest).
I do wonder about the service pattern for this proposed system, though: two separate circles, or a figure-eight?