Before and After: Regional Rail and Coach Network, Victoria, Australia

November 14, 2015
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It’s always fun to do a “before and after” comparison, and here’s a fantastic example of how a well-drawn diagrammatic map can offer enhanced system legibility over a more geographically-based map.

The old map (top), dating from October 2014, is pretty terrible work. Towns and cities are in the right geographical location, but are simply joined by straight lines, which creates a difficult-to-read “spider web” of interconnecting and overlapping routes. Rail lines are shown as both purple and grey, depending on whether or not they’re part of the ‘myki’ fare system, while coach routes are dashed gray lines. This dual role for grey adds some more confusion to the mix! An inset is required for the Melbourne metropolitan area, as it can’t be shown properly on a scale map of all of Victoria. About the only thing this map does better than the new one is to indicate which myki zone a railway station is in – although even this is coarsely handled, by way of a number appended to the station’s name.

The new map (bottom), introduced in June 2015, takes a diagrammatic approach, and is far, far more legible and understandable. All routes are now purple, but each has a distinctive and recognisable pattern that immediately distinguishes it from the the other modes: solid for ‘myki’ V/Line trains, dashed for regional “paper ticket” trains and double-stroked for coach lines. The Melbourne metro area has been expanded in size to easily accommodate all the stations that were previously on the inset, and there’s even room to indicate the SkyBus service from Southern Cross to the airport. 

Although the diagram is undoubtedly better than the map, the particulars of the coach routes still aren’t always clear – especially in western Victoria where there’s just a big grid of route lines with few clear start and end points. Still, the map certainly gives a better idea of all the destinations available, if not all the particulars (time to refer to a schedule!).

Our rating: Old map – 2 stars. New map: 3.5 stars. Much better!

Source: New map from official PTV website

Submission – Official Map: New Seattle Link Light Rail “Red Line” Strip Map

November 13, 2015
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Submitted by SounderBruce, who says:

Sound Transit has put up the first of the new Link Light Rail maps in its trains here in Seattle, featuring the new “Red Line” branding that will be phased in by the time the second line (the Blue Line, formerly East Link) opens in 2023. The two “Coming Soon” signs are covering 3 new stations that are opening in 2016, extending the existing line up to the Univ. of Washington via Capitol Hill and to Angle Lake near Sea-Tac Airport.

Transit Maps says:

Looks like Sound Transit is getting ready for change nice and early… the three new stations are coming soon enough, but the official switch over to the Red Line name for what is now just “Central Link” won’t happen until 2023, when the East Link line over Lake Washington to Bellevue and Overlake opens – this will then become the “Blue Line”.

I quite like the mystery of the big “Coming Soon” notices at each end of the map, although I do note that the labels for the current terminal stations at Westlake/Seattle and SeaTac/Airport are set in bold type. Presumably, the future termini at the University of Washington and Angle Lake will also be bold, so that’ll look a little odd.

Interestingly, our old friends, the required-by-state-law pictograms, have been released from the circles that they used to be contained within, which does give them each a slightly more unique silhouette than before. However, they’ve all been angled 45 degrees counter-clockwise with their label, which reduces their clarity somewhat (also, the Mount Baker pictogram on its side looks kind of ridiculous). I do think it’s interesting – and perhaps inconsistent – that the icons for connections below the route line stay horizontal while the icons for the stations themselves are angled.

Our rating: A little change in preparation for the future. It’s only got a shelf-life of a few years, but could perhaps have been executed a little better. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: SounderBruce/Flickr

Transit Maps is on Instagram!

November 13, 2015
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Follow along – hopefully I’ll have lots of great transit-related photos from my trip to New York next week to share. I’ll also be adding some great detail photos of old maps and work-in-progress snapshots of new projects as I work on them.

Transit Maps Instagram

Reader Question: How do you decide on dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a map?

November 13, 2015
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Question: How do you decide on the overall dimensions and aspect ratio when creating a new map?

Answer: For my personal map projects, the aspect ratio is the first thing I decide upon. I generally try to stick with standard formats that are compatible with framing – these being 1:1 (square), and 3:2 or 4:3 rectangles. 

Generally, I use 3:2 the most – 36″ x 24″ and 24″ x 16″ are great finished sizes and the aspect ratio works nicely for a lot of maps. I do try to work as closely as possible to the final size of the piece, as it allows me to judge whether elements like labels are going to be legible when I’m done.

Of course, real world transit maps often have their size and aspect ratio determined by the location that they’re going to be used at. Boston’s MBTA map is a square because the signage at stations is divided into three square panels, for example.

Official Map: Walking Time Between London Tube Stations

November 11, 2015
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Brought to my attention by Russell Morris on Twitter, this is a new official TfL map that shows the approximate walking time between London Underground stations in Zones 1 and 2. 

While it’s nice to see that TfL has recognised the desire from the public for alternative maps of the network (see also the recent official TfL “geographic” map), this is about as low budget as a “new” map could possibly be. It’s basically Zones 1 and 2 cut out of the standard Tube map with some numbers placed halfway between each station indicating time. There’s a little “nick” cut out of the route lines where the numbers are to indicate which line the number belongs to, which is fairly unconvincing and almost unnecessary in my eyes.

The biggest problem with the map, though, is that it assumes that you only ever want to follow the path of the the Tube lines themselves. It never indicates a walking path that allows you to cut across between lines, which – as many a seasoned London commuter knows – can save a lot of time. For example:

  • Covent Garden -> Tottenham Court Road: 0.4 miles, 9 minutes
  • St Pauls -> Mansion House: 0.3 miles, 6 minutes
  • Lancaster Gate -> Paddington: 0.4 miles, 9 minutes (this last one looks like a huge trek on the diagrammatic Tube Map, but they’re actually quite close together)

And more… heck, it even takes 5 minutes or so to get from one end of the Monument/Bank complex to the other, but that’s not indicated on the map either! Definitely a wasted opportunity to produce something really useful here, I think.

Interactive Map: Archaeology of the Pacific Electric, Los Angeles by The Militant Angeleno

November 10, 2015
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Here’s an absolutely superb piece of interactive mapping that overlays the routes of the Pacific Electric streetcar system (the “Red Cars”) onto a modern Google aerial map of the greater Los Angeles area. That’s interesting enough by itself, but this map goes further, and pinpoints the still-extant remnants of this once-great network – stations, uncovered sections of old track, power substations, railway bridges and more – and has photographs from many of these locations. It’s wonderfully fascinating stuff that I could easily lose hours to.

Head here for some background information on the map, or click here to view the map full-screen.

Source: The Militant Angeleno

Submission – Unofficial Map: Chongqing Rail Transit Map, China

November 8, 2015
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Submitted by Rob and Roger. Rob has this to say:

I’m seeing a lack of Asian transit systems, so heres a map of the Chongqing one in central China. I couldn’t find any official one, but I found this really nice one on Wikipedia, but it seems to be designed and made by 云淡风轻. 

Transit Maps says:

This is a nice, simple, no-nonsense transit map that lays out the existing rail transit lines in Chongqing very nicely. I perhaps find the little jog in the Jialing River north of the city centre a little unnecessary (some reworking of the route lines could be able to smooth this out a little more), but that’s a very minor problem. The legend could possibly include the symbol for main-line stations and the aerial cable-car over the Yangtze River, which is included on the map but not explained.

The real test for this map is how it’s going to work when future lines have to be included. Like many Chinese transit systems, Chongqing’s is undergoing almost exponential growth, with four new lines currently under construction (a northern extension to Line 3, new Lines 4 and 5 filling in the numbering gap in the system and a Circle Line), and a staggering twelve further lines in various planning stages. Now that’ll be a map!

Side note: I was interested to see that Lines 2 and 3 are monorail, rather than standard Metro/heavy rail. At a combined length of some 80km (50 miles), it’s the longest monorail system in the world, with the 55km (34 miles) Line 3 being the single longest monorail line.

Our rating: Gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. Three stars.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Submission – Unofficial Map: Linear Scheme of the St. Petersburg Metro by Elena Pimenova

November 6, 2015
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Submitted by Elena, who says:

This scheme is a part of my diploma work at the Academy. I set the task to simplify the existing scheme and to find a brand new build schemes. A lot of searches in sketches, disputes. The river and the Islands in St. Petersburg — important guidelines. I managed to save them in the new scheme. Ambiguous result: on the one hand — it’s very simple, horizontal lines and vertical transplantation (elevators), maximum contrast; on the other, I neglected the habits of people. What do you think about this?

Transit Maps says:

There’s a lot to be said for the elegant simplicity behind this map: following a horizontal line means you’re travelling along a Metro line, while a vertical line indicates an interchange between lines at a station. The execution is quite lovely as well, with a shaded area representing the city centre and the useful presence of the city’s distinctive rivers. There’s lots of useful transfer information, as well.

However, it’s perhaps a bit too much of a radical departure from a normal transit map – even a diagrammatical one – to ever be a replacement for an official system map. I do see an application for it as an in-train strip map, though: its long, narrow shape would make it almost perfect in this regard!

Source: Elena’s project website – some good process images here.

Lyft Launches “Friends With Transit” Campaign, Targets “Last-Mile” Riders

November 3, 2015
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Say what you like about Lyft (”awesome ride-sharing service” or “dangerously unregulated upstart taxi wannabe” seems to describe the polar opposites of opinion), but this is a pretty sweet ad campaign.

From the delightfully double-edged campaign name, “Friends with Transit” – which can either echo “friends with benefits”, or simply be a statement that Lyft complements public transportation – to the trademark hot pink lines filling in the gaps left behind by rail transit in each city, this is an on-point campaign. It deliberately ignores other “last-mile” transit options – walking, biking, taking the bus, car share or taxi – and memorably and visually supplants them with Lyft’s own service.

The campaign website (no longer active) supports the visuals with glowing reference quotes from transportation agencies as well as statistics that support the idea that transit and Lyft are meant for each other. For example, apparently South Station in Boston is Lyft’s second-most popular destination.

Clever, well-targeted and memorable – just about everything you want from a campaign.

Source: Lyft’s “Friends with Transit” website – link no longer active

London Tube Map Featured in New UK Passport Design

November 3, 2015
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Passport design has come a long way in the last few years, often being transformed from relatively dour official documents into elaborate and detailed expressions of national pride. 

The new UK passport is no exception, with the theme of “Creative United Kingdom” tying all the page designs together, celebrating over 500 years of artists, landmarks and architecture, the performing arts and iconic innovations – including this spread for the London Underground, prominently featuring the Tube Map.

I’m not quite sure what version of the official Tube Map this is based on,if any: it looks mostly like the current map, but the “U” curve on the District Line to Kensington (Olympia) is way too wide, and the interchange station shown where the two branches of the Northern Line merge just north of Kennington doesn’t exist on the real map at all. There’s other oddities like this throughout the map which make me think it’s a redrawing made just for this artwork which maybe incorporates aspects of some different versions of the map. An artistic representation rather than an actual map, if you will. Interesting!

Source: UK Passport Office brochure on the new design (PDF), via @TfL/Twitter