Historical Maps: Two Futures for the Tyne & Wear Metro, England

October 16, 2015
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Here’s a pair of interesting future planning maps for the Tyne & Wear Metro, a raid transit/light rail system in the northeast of England. The first, from September 2001, shows a plan to extend the network with street-running feeder trams, as shown by the light blue route lines. Note that the map indicates the extension to Sunderland as open, even though this wasn’t actually completed until 2002. According to the plan, this was a future vision for the network in 2016.

Fast forward to 2014 and the second map. Precisely two new stations – fill-ins at Northumberland Park and Simonside – have been constructed, and no extensions of any kind have been completed, although the southeast ends of the Yellow and Green lines have swapped positions. However, the map now shows new potential Metro corridors, this time envisioned to be complete by 2030. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of this plan, or if history will repeat itself. Metro certainly seems more concerned with the modernisation and refurbishment of its aging fleet and facilities than expansion at the moment.

As a side note, it’s fun to see the changes to the map in this time span. The Futura Condensed labels from 2001 look positively anaemic compared to the bold Calvert typeface from the 2014 map, while the angle of the main spine of the network from South Gosforth to Central Station goes from vertical to leaning left (the original map from the 1980s leaned to the right, so there’s been a very definite evolution to that part of the map).

Historical Map: Numbered Routes of Street Cars, Washington, DC, 1936

October 14, 2015
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A very handsome map showing streetcar routes in the central part of Washington, DC in 1936. Beautifully drawn, especially the loops in the south-east corner of the map. The directional arrows are skillfully and thoughtfully integrated into the route lines. White House for scale!

Source: Ghosts of DC

Submission – Official Map: Commuter Rail Services of Helsinki, Finland

October 14, 2015
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Submitted by beesweet624, who says:

I visited Helsinki for a long weekend and it was really enjoyable. The public transportation was very reliable, on time, and went everywhere I needed to go. They have a simple metro system, a well-used tram system in the central part of the city, and numerous buses. However, I had a real problem with its commuter train map.

Helsinki’s commuter train map is really confusing. Essentially the stops are arranged in three lines all connecting at the two central hubs (Pasila and Helsinki) which are at the bottom of the map. However, the layout draws your eyes to the central loop. The main complaint I have, though, is the use of seemingly random letters to denote different trains types, while the only difference is at which stations they stop.

It doesn’t help that each station has two names, one in Finnish and one in Swedish (the two official languages of Finland), making it even messier, especially for foreigners who don’t speak either language. 

Can anyone think of a better way to lay out this map?

Transit Maps says:

The big advantage of this layout is that it is very compact. In reality, the line out to Karjaa heads west, while Lahti is far to the north of Helsinki. Laying the routes out spatially would require a much larger area than this schematic view. That said, I think I prefer this older version from 2012 which colour-coded the lines rather than using colours to indicate fare zones. One could argue that the shaded zones behind the lines already do this job, but there seems to be a definite trend in HSL/HRT visual communications to use colour for very specific things – orange for rapid transit (Metro and express bus), purple for commuter rail within Helsinki, green for trains that go further afield, etc. – as can be seen on this map.

As for the seemingly random letters, all I can say is that they probably make perfect sense to the commuters who use them and know the advantage of a “Z” over an “N” for getting to Kerava quickly during the afternoon commute. It’s really no different to (for example) the New York Subway using a seemingly random selection of letters and numbers to denote different services and stopping patterns. Commuter rail is generally used by residents of a distant suburb who only travel from home to work and back again. They’re very familiar with the service because they use it every day and they have learned the best train to use for their trips. An indication that the “L” and the “T” are night-time services only would be welcome, but  – again – regular commuters probably already know that.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with the bi-lingual labelling: it’s done relatively neatly, and works just fine in the context of the map. Those are the names of the stations and are what would appear on station signage. Adding an English translation of those names wouldn’t help at all. The map adds English to the legend and customer service information at the bottom of the map, where it’s actually useful to do so.

As far as the way the map looks, I really don’t like the way the lines fan out above Pasila: they all get much closer together visually and it looks pretty ugly. The P/I loop line pairing is pretty visually dominant, and I wonder if there could have been a way to combine them into a single route line with an indication that “P” runs clockwise and “I” counter-clockwise. I do suspect that they’re actually pretty proud of their new airport loop line and want to show it off, however. 

The line that joins Riihimaki and Lahti still looks like a bit of an afterthought.

Our rating: A compact, space-efficient diagram that suits its target audience (regular commuters) well, but could be a little trickier for visitors to Helsinki to parse. I miss the colours of the older map. Still three stars, but a slightly lower three stars than before.

Source: HSL/HRT website (scroll down to the bottom)

Submission – Official Map: Transportes Sul Do Tejo Bus Routes, Portugal, 2015

October 12, 2015
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Submitted by Miles Taylor, who says:

Here’s the system “diagram” of the TST bus system south of Lisbon in Portugal. It’s impossible to tell what any of the routes are since they’re all just blue lines zigzagging across the map. Not to mention the place names are in comic sans. Ugh.

Transit Maps says:

The only – and I do mean only – saving grace for this map is that it appears on the same web page as an embedded and (somewhat) searchable Google Map of the transportation area, so no one ever actually has to use this.

Judged solely on its own merits, there’s absolutely no doubt that this map is absolutely useless at anything more than indicating the size of the service area with an approximation of routes slapped on top. Which routes go where is impossible to decipher, nor can any distinction be made between suburban, urban or express routes. The map as a whole is rendered pretty poorly, and the use use of Comic Sans just adds further insult to the viewers of this terrible piece of cartography.

Our rating: Straight to the Hall of Shame! Embarrassingly bad: zero stars!

Source: Official Transportes Sul do Tejo website

Submission – Unofficial Map: Radial Map of Rail Services in Potsdam, Germany

October 12, 2015
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Submitted by Milan, who says:

I’m from Germany and wanted to share this map of my hometown’s streetcar/light rail system I created this week. I wanted to share it with you before my thirteenth birthday, which is tomorrow (October 12). Greetings from Potsdam.

Happy birthday, Milan! It’s just about to roll over to the 12th here in Portland, Oregon, so I hope you’re having a great day! 

I really like your map, which reminds me a lot of this prototype radial map of Berlin by famed German designer, Erik Spiekermann (August 2013), as well as the many radial maps by Maxwell Roberts. I especially find your treatments of the rivers and lakes interesting, as they get wider the further out from the centre they get –faithfully following the “spokes” of the radial grid. This could look a little weird if done poorly, but i think your representation actually works very nicely.

Inclusion of the S7 from Berlin and the red regional train lines are also a welcome addition to the map. If you were to develop this map further, a legend explaining the different services and lines on the map would be a good idea. Overall though, this is a fantastic effort, precisely drawn and well thought out: great work!

Submission – Official Map: West Yorkshire Metro Rail, 2015

October 9, 2015
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Submitted by Lyle Read-Challen, who says:

This is the official rail map of the West Yorkshire area, a conurbation in the north of England. Despite the name “Metro” it is really just a collection of commuter lines centred around Leeds station.

It’s not particularly beautiful or interesting to look at, but it does the job. The “lines” system works better here than on many commuter systems, which tend to be all one colour. The station spacing is nice and even, and though they might look overpowering, the system logo works well at indicating which stations are actually within West Yorkshire.

I’d be interested in hearing what you think of it!

Transit Maps says:

Overall, this is a very solid rail map, executed in a classic British style: the black bars across the route lines for stations puts me very much in mind of this classic British Rail Greater London map from 1965 (May 2012, 4.5 stars). I don’t mind the use of the “M” logo for certain stations, as it serves a very definite informational purpose on the map. If anything, I would have liked to see the “6″ and “7″ station dots presented in another colour to help differentiate them from the “M” symbols a little better.

Speaking of colour, the background zones are a little too bright for my tastes, but it’s only really a problem when the purple Zone 3 interacts with the light blue Pontefract Line – they’re quite tonally similar and the contrast between them is way too low. I also think the black zone borders are quite heavy-handed and believe that a thin white border would separate them just as well, and also lend a lighter feel to the map as a whole.

There’s only one glaring error that I can see: the orange Huddersfield Line disappears behind the blue Zone 1 area instead of continuing to its terminus at Leeds. Use layers in Illustrator to keep elements like this where they should be!

Side note: the old-school tram silhouette to indicate light rail connections at various stations is kind of adorable, if not exactly an accurate reflection of modern LRVs.

Our rating: As Lyle says, gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. Neat and legible, if not particularly memorable. Three stars.

Source: West Yorkshire Metro website – link no longer active

Before and After – Montreal Metro Map, 2015

October 2, 2015
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Pursuant to the last post, here’s a little GIF I screen grabbed from the STM video of the old map versus the new one. Farewell, iconic 37-degree tilt!

Also of note: the type is much, much smaller and – strangely, given how much they tout the awesomeness of mixed-case type in the wayfinding system – is still set in all-caps. I’ll reserve my judgement until I see the whole map, however.

Video: New Wayfinding Signage and Map for the Montreal Metro!

October 2, 2015
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Sent my way by Patrick and Steve, here’s a short video from Montreal’s STM agency explaining the new wayfinding system that’s starting to be rolled out across the Metro system.

The major talking point (for me, at least) is the replacement of Univers with FF Transit as the system’s main typeface. It’s a very complementary choice, and I doubt most people would even notice the difference in passing. However, I think there’s definitely enhanced legibility, and the use of the typeface’s “front” and “back” variations for front-lit versus back-lit applications is very smart. 

The move to lowercase lettering is also welcome, as all-caps Univers always seems very stiff and formal to me. I am glad that they’re retaining historical typographical elements throughout the system, however.

The Metro map also seems to be getting an extensive make-over (just three years after the last minor revision), although the video glosses over the subject pretty quickly, saying just this, starting at around the 3:07 mark.

The iconic system map was simplified, presenting information in a more organized way. With its schematic approach and less clutter, the map is clear and easy to read.

Watching the video closely, most of the changes look good, bringing some simplicity and hierarchical structure to the map. However, I’m very sad to see that the distinctive 37-degree tilt has seemingly been replaced with the more standard 45-degree angles used by transit maps around the world.  Even more than the black background and all-caps typography, this was the unique and iconic defining feature of the Montreal map, and now it’s gone. The map hasn’t yet been updated on the STM website: I’ll be watching with interest for its debut!

Source: Official STM website

Submission – Official Map: Rail Transit of Rome, 2015

September 30, 2015
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Submitted by Kevin McElroy, who says:

The Rome Metro has only had 2 lines for quite sometime. For such a famous European capital the metro system is pretty simple. Metro C is a new line opened in the southeastern portion of the city and extends out into the periphery. It is planned to eventually cross the historic center, though for now isn’t all funded.

They updated the Metro map with lines, A, B, B1 (a spur in the northwestern part of the city, which opened in 2012), and C. In addition they included trams, metro-like services (Roma Lido, Roma Viterbo, Roma Giardinetti), and regional rail connections (“commuter rail” 30 minute headways).

Overall, I think the map does a good job of showing the different services and helps you understand their utility in the overall network. I think the details and design of the map are much improved and show some real thought was given to how best display the network for the metropolitan region of Rome. Everything seems cohesive from fonts, colors, to weights and text orientation.

I’m going to assume you won’t like the the large circle (GRA, a large highway ring road) which may not mean much to a tourist, but to an Italian it really gives a good idea of geography.

Transit Maps says:

Surprisingly, I’ve never featured a full system map from Rome before, only bits and pieces from different parts of the network (#rome). So it’s a real pleasure to see how excellent this new version is. 

I have no problems with the inclusion of the ring road at all: its perfectly circular shape is very visually pleasing, and it gives a good sense of scale to the whole map. 

Informational hierarchy is good, although I’d perhaps like to see the Metro lines thickened up just a tad to help them stand out a little more, especially in the busier parts of the map. If there’s one minor concern with the map, it’s that the right-hand side seems a little crowded in comparison to the left, with much tighter station spacing. This seems to reflect the real world situation (Termini station really is slap-bang in the middle of the ring road’s circle), but a little bit of tweaking and nudging could perhaps have created a little more space on that right hand side. Things will get a little better when the superseded stations on the Roma Giardinetti line are removed entirely, instead of being struck through as they are now.

One glaring set of errors in the legend: the coloured boxes behind the urban railroad and regional railroad names are too far to the right, cutting off the first letter of those names: “ROMA” becomes “OMA”, and “FL1″ is just “L1″. On the map, FL6′s route line doesn’t have the dashes in it that other regional lines have to indicate that their final destinations are off the edge of the map.

Our rating: Despite the few flaws noted above, this is a superbly confident map that almost feels more German in style and execution than Italian. Really quite excellent: four stars.

Source: Official ATAC website

Historical Map: July 22, 1974 Sketch of the Washington DC Metro Map by Lance Wyman

September 29, 2015
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Here’s a fantastic bit of Washington Metro history that I hadn’t seen before: an original working drawing of the now-iconic map from 1974, two years before the system opened (see the opening day map here). Interestingly, it looks like Wyman was experimenting with textural treatments for the route lines at this time – stripes for the Red Line, stars for the Blue, etc. – an idea I’m ever so glad he abandoned, because it would have looked so busy and hideous.

Source: Peter Lloyd’s MetroMapArt website – link no longer active. Photo by Reka Komoli.