Submission – Official Map: Revised Manchester Metrolink Map, December 2015

December 28, 2015
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Submitted by mactire, who says:

I’d be interested to know your opinion of the updated Manchester tram map, a different version of which was featured earlier this year (August 2015, 4 stars)? Personally, although I can see the need to accommodate increasing complexity in the system, I don’t think the route indicators are easy to follow, and the placement of symbols and labels seems just a bit messier in fitting around them.

Transit Maps says:

I’d have to agree with mactire – this is definitely a retrograde step in the evolution of this map. 

I can see why it’s been done, as some unusual service patterns and terminal stations have been introduced while the last connecting piece of track in the city centre is being constructed, but it’s just not very intuitive to use. Finding both ends of a given route can take quite a while, and then you have to retrace the route between them to make sure you’ve got things right. Then there’s the daily service patterns (every day, Monday through Saturday only, Sunday only) to factor in as well… it’s a headache-inducing mess. 

The route designation arrows do seem a bit tacked on, especially at Victoria, and their colourfulness means that the other informational icons have all been reduced to black and white so they don’t compete visually. I actually thought the previous versions of the icons were very successful – the blue backgrounds for the park-and-ride icons worked particularly well as a contrast to the brown backgrounds of the other “connection” icons – so it’s a shame to see them reduced so much in importance here.

Our rating: An experiment in presenting route information differently, but I really don’t feel it’s that successful. Takes far too long for the user to parse route and schedule information. Hopefully will revert back to something more like previous maps when construction work is complete. Two-and-a-half stars. 

Source: Official Metrolink website (PDF link)

Historical Map: 1977 MBTA Guidelines and Standards Manual – Graphics

December 23, 2015
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A page from the 1977 MBTA Standards Manual showing the specifications for a map panel as installed at the entrance level of a station, using Kendall inbound as an example. Signage much like this can still be seen across most of the rapid transit network.

Interestingly, there’s no Kickstarter campaign to reissue this particular standards manual, perhaps because it wasn’t created by a famed Italian modernist designer and is typeset in the most basic manner possible, but there’s no shortage of fascinating information available in it: the PANTONE colours used for each of the rapid transit lines, for example, or why there’s no Yellow Line (the colour was reserved for bus services). Best of all, the PDFs are available for download from the MBTA’s website (Part 2 contains the graphics standards pages if that’s all you’re interested in).

Submission – Official Map: Detroit M-1 Rail “Sponsors Map”

December 22, 2015
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Submitted by Mike, who has a lot of good things to say, much of which I agree with. Hopefully, the official map once the line is up and running will tone down the sponsorship a lot (the way the Quicken Loans logo covers up the label for the Greyhound Bus Station is particularly awful) and focus more on how the line creates vital transportation connections for the people of Detroit.

Here’s Mike’s full submission text:

First, I do not think this is a good map. The focus is on the individual sponsors of the various stops as a way to garner more commercial support for the project instead of it being an actual map. The points-of-interest are faded out or non-existent, the People Mover is thrown in there, and without knowing the city you have no sense of scale for this 3.3-mile stretch of Woodward Avenue.

But I like the map, not for what it is, but for what it represents. Detroit, being the Motor City, has long been the domain of cars with just the laughable People Mover and a horrendous bus system as the only daily mass transit in the area. What this map is is what this map represents: the city moving forward into a future where people will take mass transit downtown, that people will actually want to go and stay downtown for more than just a show or Red Wings game, that the city will once again be a living and vibrant center for arts and industry.

This past Thanksgiving, I ran a 10K downtown with my dad and wife, and the route (like almost all races in Detroit) included a stretch along Woodward. Yes, the same Woodward known for the Woodward Dream Cruise for people to drive their classic cars all week just to show off and burn fuel. Instead of focusing on that aspect of Detroit culture, the race organizers and speakers instead highlighted that we were starting at the southern terminus of the M-1 streetcar line, and what it meant for the city moving into the new century. Sure, it also came with a note to be careful around the extended construction site and on the slippery rails (it had rained that morning), but it was still a highlight.

Growing up outside of the city, I rarely ventured downtown with my family. We’d go to a Wings or Tigers game, or watch my dad run the marathon, but that was it. Now, with work continuing and me being hopeful for plans for expansion, I’ll be visiting downtown more frequently with my wife when we head back to Michigan to visit my family.

I like this map, not for what it shows, but for what it means for the future of Detroit.

Note: the M-1 streetcar was originally planned to the a 9-mile light rail system, stretching closer to the suburbs, but this is a start. Plus, being connected to Amtrak is a plus.

Source: Official M-1 Rail project website

Question: How Many Subways Have You Used?

December 22, 2015
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A question from Richard Archambault via Twitter: how many metros/subways have you personally visited? Favourite?

Answer: Oooo, good question! Using the full list of rail rapid transit systems in Mark Ovenden’s Transit Maps of the World gives this list (in approximate order of first use):

  • Sydney (suburban rail, monorail, light rail)
  • London (Underground)
  • Paris (Métro)
  • Rome (Metro)
  • Melbourne (tram)
  • Ghent (tram)
  • Milan (commuter/regional rail to Como, not tram or Metro)
  • Naples (Circumvesuviano line only, not Metro)
  • Freiburg im Breisgau (tram)
  • Strasbourg (tram)
  • Köln (U-Bahn)
  • Amsterdam (tram)
  • Vienna (tram, not U-Bahn)
  • Prague (Metro, tram)
  • Berlin (U-Bahn)
  • San Francisco (BART)
  • Portland (light rail, streetcar)
  • Seattle (light rail)
  • Boston (T)
  • New York (subway)
  • Tempe, Arizona (light rail)
  • Valencia (Metro)
  • Barcelona (Metro)

That’s it, I think. I’ve also traveled extensively around Europe by train, but that’s kind of outside the scope of this question. And there’s lots of cities I’ve visited that have rail transit that I just haven’t used yet – Los Angeles, Brussels, Marseille, Munich, etc.

I have a few favourites for different reasons: London because it introduced me to real rapid transit and the H.C. Beck map; Paris because of how integrated into the fabric of the city it is; and Barcelona because of the awesome wayfinding signage. Honourable mention to New York for just being the New York Subway (for better and for worse). 

Oh yeah, and a a huge shoutout to Freiburg, where the tram operator not only shouted out his window to me that his tram was the right one to catch to get to the youth hostel on the edge of town, but also made a pitstop at the information center to dash inside and get me a map and information on ticket discounts. Operator of the year, 2003!

Unofficial Map – Roman Metro and Suburban Rail Map by Dmitry Goloub

December 18, 2015
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I’ve featured Russian information and type designer Dmitry Goloub’s superb re-imagining of the Milan Metro map previously (October 2013, 5 stars), and now he’s back with his rendition of rail transit in Rome. 

This is a commissioned map for the Welcome to Rome tourist magazine, and it’s certainly a step up from many unofficial maps featured in similar publications throughout the world (often, publishers don’t want to pay the licensing fees to use an official map and instead throw in a cheap knockoff that barely does the job). 

One limitation of the magazine’s format is immediately obvious – the printed page is set up to the A-series ratio (1:1.41), which necessitates some extreme horizontal compression of the network to fit on the page. Dmitry’s hexagonal grid helps his cause a bit here, as 60-degree angles don’t take up as much horizontal space as a standard 45-degree angle would. However, it’s very apparent that the diagram bears little relationship to the geographical reality of Rome – the new Metro C line is shown as heading south-east and then due south instead of its actual almost due east trajectory, while the suburban lines heading south out of Termini station have to take a massive (and imaginary) correctional dogleg to position themselves on the correct side of Metro Line A past Arco di Travertino station. This is certainly still very usable as a diagram of the network, but anyone expecting this map to be representative of the lie of the land – as tourists unfamiliar with the city might – could be in for a surprise. An addition of a “map not to scale” warning to the legend might help.

Interestingly, the map shows the Metro and suburban railways – and even the Vatican’s private railway line! – but not the tram network. In a diagram that’s already tight for space, showing all three modes probably wasn’t practicable, but I do wonder what the rationale behind including the less-likely-to-be-used-by-tourists suburban lines over the trams was.

Personally, I don’t think station names need to be listed twice when they have the same name, like Dmitry has done at Basilica San Paolo and EUR Magliana – it’s redundant and takes up extra space, making the map busier. I’m also undecided about the inclusion of his actual grid as a background element: it does add a nice texture to the map, but it also reveals where Dmitry has chosen not to adhere to the grid for both aesthetic and practical reasons. Looking at his choices here is quite interesting, as there’s quite a few places where elements are placed just a tiny bit off-kilter with the grid, especially when it comes to the fare boundary around the city limits.

I do really like Dmitry’s treatment of the River Tiber and the sea: the little boat off-shore is a lovely little icon, and the overall texture of the water is very pleasing. I also really appreciate that he’s created his own typeface for the map– dubbed Tiberino Sans – and that he’s used the classical inscriptions found on the monuments of Rome as his inspiration. This can lead to some dissonance between the “trajanesque” capital letters and the slightly condensed lower case characters, especially with the capital “Q” and “N” which are very wide in comparison. Overall though, it’s a nice, clean, modern typeface which suits the aesthetics of the map well.

Our rating: I feel like there’s a really nice diagram trying to break free of the limitations of the page format here. Still nicely readable and visually interesting. Three-and-a-half stars.

See also: The 2015 official ATAC map of rail transit in Rome.

Source: Dmitry’s portfolio website

Submission – 1952 Berlin S-Bahn Map Recreation by Jesse Jae Hoon Eisenberg

December 17, 2015
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Submitted by Jesse, who says:

Inspired by your re-make of the Paris Metro maps, I went and re-made from scratch this map of Berlin from 1952. I used DIN Pro, which seemed like the closest match. I took a few liberties with some of the colors and symbols here and then, but for the most part I’ve tried to stick to the original as closely as possible. Would love to hear what you think!

Transit Maps says:

This is great work that seems to accurately follow the original map very closely (with a couple of notable exceptions that I’ll get too soon). 

Firstly – DIN is absolutely the right choice for the typeface, as that’s pretty much what was used originally. The name “DIN” actually refers to the Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization), which defined the typeface – widely used for traffic, administrative and technical uses, especially in Germany – in DIN standard sheet 1451 (hence the common name for the font, DIN 1451) in 1931. The relatively coarse printing in the original map makes the letterforms look a little rougher than in Jesse’s version, but it’s basically exactly the same.

The first issue I have with Jesse’s version is his treatment of the borders between the four separate zones of the divided Berlin. He’s used some kind of stroked path for the wider, lighter part of the borders, which looks okay, except where the path folds back over itself, creating an unsightly overlapping effect. Studying the original map, I’m pretty certain that this lighter border is simply a 20- 30% tint of the full strength border olive colour, and that Jesse has misinterpreted the halftone dot pattern as his stroked path. His error is understandable though, given the low resolution of the source material.

My second gripe is with Jesse’s introduction of an extra colour (blue) to show the privat-und kleinbahnen (private and small railways). Part of the challenge in these historical recreations is working out exactly how they were originally printed and then emulating that with modern software and techniques. Printing was far more primitive back in the 1950s, and map designers had to make things work with limited colour palettes and dodgy registration. Looking at the original, I believe it was printed with five separate inks: red, green, and black, with brown for the U-Bahn and small railways, and what looks like olive for the sektorengrenze. The two types of minor railway were differentiated by different types of lines – the U-Bahn just had a solid line, while the small railroads were “ticked” along one side of the line – rather than by the introduction of a sixth colour, which would have increased both the expense and the technical challenges of printing the map.

I’d also say in passing that all of Jesse’s colours seem a little “blue” or “cold” – perhaps an overcorrection from the yellowed paper of the original? I’d definitely bring the red back to a standard M100 Y100 and warm the green up just a tad.

Overall, though – I really like this recreation and can definitely appreciate the effort that Jesse has put into it. Nice work!

Submission – Historical Map: South Shore Line Railfan Tour Brochure, 1939

December 16, 2015
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Submitted by marmarinou – who runs a cool Tumblr dedicated to Chicago-area railroads and trains.

A very basic map of the South Shore Line between Chicago, IL and South Bend, IN appended to the back cover of a railfan tour brochure from 1939. The day-long tour of the line was organised by the Central Electric Railfans Association, which is still extant today. Check out the original source of the image (keep scrolling down) for the inside spread of the brochure detailing the day’s events – it was quite the itinerary!

Source: thetrolleydodger.com

Video: A Tube Map Made of Chocolates!

December 15, 2015
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Ah, the Quality Street box of chocolates and toffees – a perennial Christmas gift from grandparents throughout the UK, Australia and elsewhere. Their brightly coloured wrappers lend themselves well to this little project: a recreation of the London Tube map made from individual chocolates laid end to end. 

Yes, it’s all a silly bit of festive fun, but there is actually some insight into the current state of the map when they’re laying out the Overground (at around 1:38). “There’s way too many Overground lines here,” says one team member, “A real mish-mash in East London; it’s all gone horribly wrong.” A fairly accurate summation of things, I think.

Source: Londonist.com – who note that they paid for the Quality Street chocolates themselves and that it is not a sponsored post.

Submission – Virginia Railway Express Commuter Rail Map, 2015

December 14, 2015
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Submitted by Edward Russell, whose photo of this map in situ can be seen here. Edward says:

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) updated their map with the addition of the Spotsylvania station on the Fredericksburg (red) line in November. It’s much cleaner than their former map, which included the numerous meanders on the lines and lacked clean 90-degree or 45-degree angles.

The new map is just straight lines with a clean 45-degree split where the Manassas (blue) line breaks off from the Fredericksburg line. I’d say it is a solid map for a simple system.

Transit Maps says:

“Solid” is a good word to describe this effort – it gets the job done: no more, no less. The routes are kept as simple as possible, the type (Gill Sans, deployed nicely) is clean as easy to read, and there’s an easy to comprehend legend.

Personally, I find the treatment of the Potomac a little uneven and wobbly. There are better ways to draw rivers in Illustrator than to make a path for each bank separately, such as drawing a single, central path and then using the Width tool or a width profile to make the path get evenly and gradually wider from one end of the path to the other.

I’m also not really thrilled with the way that the District Diamond has been laid on its side. It’s probably meant to reflect that the alignment of the Fredricksburg Line isn’t truly north-south, but it just looks odd on an otherwise diagrammatic map to rotate the diamond in an effort to match “reality” so closely.

Also of interest is the appropriation of the Washington DC Metro’s famous “target” interchange symbols for stations that are shared between the two VRE lines. Association by imitation?

Our rating: Unremarkable in many ways, but an improvement on what came before. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Official VRE website

Video: “Stations – A Quick Scan Through NYC” by Snowday

December 9, 2015
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Just a couple of glimpses of the subway map at the beginning, but I still love this short video featuring the stations of the New York Subway and the people who pass through it every day. Having just returned from a trip to the Big Apple, I wish I had the ability to capture the lifeblood of the city as well as this.

Source: Snowday/Vimeo