Riffing off the Tube Map is not entirely a modern phenomenon, as this Penguin book cover from 1977 shows. (Re)design by John Carrod.
Source: coversetc/Flickr
Photo: “London Shopping Guide” Book Cover, 1977
Photo: New York Subway Map/New York Subway Jacket
ReMap: Real-Time NY Subway Map Information
A short intro video for ReMap: a dynamic, interactive map with the ability to distribute and express real-time New York Subway information, which looks very promising indeed. Manhattan only at the moment, it seems (gotta appeal to the tourists!) but the mapping style is very nice (a bit of Vignelli, a bit of KickMap). I particularly like that the length of transfer walks is indicated proportionately on the map. The use of Bluetooth to push updates to users who are in the subway network and out of WiFi/cell network range seems almost incredible… although they’re still working on that.
More info here.
Submission – Historical Map: Trams and Buses of Brussels, Belgium, 1958
Submitted by Thierry.
A very stylish diagrammatic map of tramways (coloured lines) and bus routes (dotted black lines). This city’s historic centre is shaded grey, while the site of Expo 58 (or the Brussels World’s Fair) is given much prominence to the top left of the map. There’s a lovely economy of line in this map: everything serves a purpose and there’s a definite minimalist clarity in the design. Quite lovely.
Submission – Unofficial Future Rail Map of Stockholm by Bernie Ng
Submitted by Bernie, whose Melbourne and Singapore maps have been featured previously on Transit Maps. Of this map, Bernie says:
Attached is a map of the Stockholm railway network (including the metro system, trams, local railways and commuter railways operated by SL, and Arlanda Express). I got a bit of inspiration after a recent visit. I loved the original Stockholm subway map – it is an exercise of minimalist beauty. Just three colours, and dashed lines for stops. All the terminii are lined up together. Loved it!
However, they have since tried to add other railways to the map, and to be honest, I think it messes up that simplicity. If the future extensions are thrown in, they are going to have to redraw the whole thing as it is getting horribly cramped! (e.g. how will they account for L22 being extended from Sickla udde to meet L25 at Sickla?)
So as I was on holidays, I thought about a reimagined version of the map. I started with a focal point. I thought the ring tram line (Tvarbanan – L22) would be a nice visual hook if I can put the downtown in the exact centre of the circle (that would be where Stockholm C/T-Centralen) is. I gave colours to more of the lines to make the map less dour in character, and to give more equal footing to the other forms of railways. Stockholm is a city surrounded by water and islands, so I thought that rather with dispensing geography altogether, putting some of it gives the map more character, and map help with navigation as well. This map includes future extensions under consideration by SL, up to 2025.
Transit Maps says:
I’ve had this map from Bernie hanging around in my inbox for a while now (sorry, Bernie!), but having just featured the mixed bag of Stockholm’s new official map, this seems the perfect time to show it off.
First off, I love a map with a good visual hook, and Bernie’s interpretation of the L22 as a ring line (which it kind of is) works perfectly in that regard. I also think his inclusion of geography is intelligent, acting as another aid to orientation.
Showing all the extensions up to 2025 means that the map is fully future-proofed already, and it seems that Bernie’s incorporated all the major ones that I know about pretty skilfully, including that commuter rail tunnel under the city and the new Metro line extension to Arenastaden. He’s also integrated the privately-run Arlanda Express line to the airport, which is great to see from an end-user’s point of view.
Bernie’s added more colour to his version as well, but I feel that it’s used a little more intelligently than the official map: all the commuter rail lines are shades of a slightly recessive purple, for example, which visually drops them just a little lower in the information hierarchy. His mode differentiation is a little better executed – even in the small image size allowed by Tumblr, the light rail and commuter rail lines feel visually “lighter” than those of the Metro – but the difference between all the modes could be emphasised even a little more, I feel.
Our rating: A decidedly different approach to the new official map, and arguably more successful. Three-and-a-half stars.
Submission – New Rail Transit Map for Stockholm, Sweden, 2015 (with Before/After)
Submitted by Kristofer Kåring, who says:
Stockholm Transit (SL) has made official a new railway/metro/tram map. News article (in Swedish) about it here.
I think the new gray design is more appealing, and I like that they don’t stretch short branches any longer (like T14 to Fruängen and T17 to Skarpnäck), but the extra bends on T10 are ugly.
Transit Maps says:
The new map (the second of the two images above) is certainly very striking with its elegant grey background and multitudinous coloured lines, but is it actually more usable? I have my doubts.
It would seem that the emphasis of the map has changed drastically, as the previous map had the Tunnelbana (metro/subway) squarely front and centre in bright colours, with the light rail/tram and commuter rail in secondary roles. However, the new map seems to take more of a “complete rail transit” approach, with every line getting its own colour. I feel this actually works against mode differentiation, as it’s now much harder to tell the three different modes apart. Yes, there’s a very thin lighter stroke down the middle of the tram/light rail route lines and a very thin darker stroke down the middle of the commuter rail lines, but it’s a lot of hard work to tell those apart, especially at any distance (I’ll bet you can’t see them at all in the image above, right?).
Compare this to the simplicity of the previous version. Tunnelbana: colours. Tram/light rail: grey. Commuter rail: black. Got it. Very few of the light rail lines actually interact with each other (acting for the most part as feeder lines to the main Metro system), so the introduction of colours doesn’t actually add much useful meaning to the map.
A potential future problem: the L12 light rail line is shown as yellow: the same as the colour that was voted in for the planned Tunnelbana extension to Arenastaden. Other planned future extensions – including the new commuter rail tunnel under central Stockholm – could be problematic for this map to accommodate without extensive redrawing.
One thing I will defend on the new map is the “ugly” extra bends on the T10 line. As noted by Daniel Firth, the previous map shows the Huvudsta Metro station as being directly adjacent to the Bällsta bro tram stop, when in reality there’s a good 20 minute walk between them. The extra curves in the T10 line correct this error and place Huvudsta in a much better position relative to Bällsta bro.
Our rating: Shiny and new, but seems to have more colours just for the sake of it. Mode differentiation is far more difficult than on the old map, and could lead to unrealistic service level expectations from visitors unfamiliar with Stockholm, especially for the commuter rail services, which have much longer headways than the Metro or light rail/tram. Doesn’t seem to be very future-proofed. Two-and-a-half stars.
Video: A Day in the Life of the London Underground by Will Gallia
Mesmerising stuff. One dot equals one person’s journey. More details on the project here.
Historical Map: Gothenburg Tramways, January 1966
An pleasant mid-century diagrammatic tram (and bus) map for the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The two major points of interest for me are the nice little turnaround loops at the ends of each tram line (everyone who’s ever ridden a tram would instantly understand that), and the interesting “lightning bolt” symbols used to indicate free transfers between stops that have some distance between them. (A quick Google Translate of the legend for that symbol gives “Connects the stops between which the transition [transfer] is permitted, even though they are not located in close proximity to each other”.) Apparently, this transfer even extends to a ferry ride from the #32 bus on the north shore of the Göta älv to the tram stops located on the opposite bank. Nice!
The large key to route numbers is also interesting, with its stylised central “SG” logo (for Göteborgs Stad?) surrounded by route lines radiating out from it. It’s definitely impressive, although perhaps a little overwrought for a simple list of routes and destinations. Still, it’s always good to see a different approach to a common design problem!
Our rating: Naively charming in its way with a couple of very nice touches. Definitely of its era. Oh look, a stop named after the Volvo manufacturing plant! Three stars.
Source: mikeyashworth/Flickr
Submission – Fantasy Future Map: Glasgow Integrated Rail by Angus Doyle
Submitted by Angus, who says:
I’ve been working on this map of an integrated rail network for Greater Glasgow of the (imagined) near future for quite some time and now that it’s finally finished I’d love to know what you make of it. Shortly after beginning the project I found your blog and I’ve been regularly trawling through it for inspiration and tips ever since.
I started work on the map for three basic reasons. Firstly, I felt that the city region’s substantial urban rail network – as it exists now – really needs a dedicated map of some sort, having last had one more than a decade ago. Secondly, it is my belief that a modest amount of vision and investment could see the reinstatement of a range of unused or underused routes and thereby endow the city region with thoroughly modern and enviable transport network – something along the lines of the number of German cities with multi-modal transportation systems incorporating U-Bahn, S-Bahn and trams. Thirdly, like yourself and everyone who follows Transit Maps, I really love schematic transport maps and, as an aspiring graphic designer, I thought it was high time I have a crack at one.
A much more in-depth/boring synopsis of my motivations, vision and design processes can be found at my blog here.
Transit Maps says:
Wow. Not only is Angus’ fine diagrammatic map simply beautiful to look at, but the applied design theory behind it is some of the most comprehensive I have ever seen. Every element has a defined relationship to the other parts of the diagram and it’s all applied consistently across the whole map.
Check out the final image above to see how he ties everything together with some very consistent sizing and spacing of elements. It has to be said that this type of theoretical work is always a little bit easier with a fantasy map compared to a map of an existing transit system – reality doesn’t always oblige us quite so nicely with the location of and relationships between stations, etc. – but a set of strict guidelines that govern the look of a map is always a great idea.
The map itself is filled with lovely design touches that really set it apart: I particularly like the black dot/grid arrangement of interchange station symbols and the simply glorious “current” texture applied to the River Clyde. There’s good mode differentiation between the subway (greatly expanded from the single “Clockwork Orange” circle that currently exists) and the commuter rail lines, and connections to long distance trains are nicely shown as well. I do feel that the labels could perhaps be a little larger – there’s a lot of white space in the diagram, and bigger text is always helpful!
About the only other thing I don’t really like on the map is the unlabelled, stylised version of it at the top right of the header: it seems somewhat pointless and squiggly, and a little at odds with the clean, restrained design of the rest of the map.
I would definitely recommend all readers to head over to Angus’ blog, where he details the rationale and method behind this fantastic map; he also delves deep into the colour theory and branding of the system as well.
Our rating: One of the best fantasy transit maps I’ve seen in a long time, backed up with some solid design theory. Four-and-a-half stars!
Submission – Unofficial Map: Pittsburgh Rapid Transit by Michael Lopato
Submitted by Michael, who says:
I am a long-time fan of your blog and now first time contributor. I have made a few attempts at making transit maps, but this is the first I’ve finished. I noticed that though Pittsburgh has a number of maps for Light Rail and the Busways, there is no good map or diagram which includes all of the rapid transit options on the same map—nor one which shows the connections between them.
Intending to fill this gap, the attached diagram/map is unofficial, a creation of my own, and it is meant primarily to show how the light rail and busways interact and to show where the city limits fall in relation to transit stops.
If you have time, I would very much appreciate a score/review of this and am quite curious to see your comments. Even if not, I hope that this is posted and shared so that Pittsburgh’s visitors and residents can be made more aware of their transportation options.
Transit Maps says:
A good effort from Michael that I would say I prefer over any official map that I’ve seen – in part because of that full integration of light rail and busways in one map. I’d perhaps like to see some visual differentiation between the two modes, because the user experience is quite different, but that’s a pretty minor point.
There could also be a bit more difference between the two different types of light rail station/stops, as the slightly lighter grey stroke around the low-platform symbols is too similar to the black stroke around the high-platform station marker, especially at smaller sizes.
The unusual nature of Pittsburgh’s geography—with the downtown triangle squeezed in at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers—means that 30-degree angles work well there, but 45-degree angles suit much of the rest of the map. Overall, this looks pretty good, but there’s some awkward juxtaposition of angles here and there, especially with the city limits line south of the Monongahela River.
Our rating: A solid map that combines the two major forms of rapid transit in Pittsburg pretty convincingly. Also reminds me that I started a Pittsburgh map ages ago and really should get around to finishing it. Three stars.