American Light Rail and Streetcar Systems to Scale by Matt Johnson

January 13, 2015
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Unofficial Maps
Tags:

Nice work here from long-time Transit Maps correspondent Matt Johnson as he visualises all existing and under construction light rail and streetcar systems in the USA in one graphic. In a way, this graphic is an update of this fantastic (but now out of date) one by Bill Rankin that shows the relative scales of all North American rail-based urban rapid transit (PDF link).

The sprawling nature of some of the light rail systems is readily apparent, reflecting the suburban nature of those cities. The relative largeness of my hometown Portland’s system surprises me, but I guess it does extend from Hillsboro all the way to Gresham! Streetcar systems tend to be much smaller, serving the central core of a city – some of them barely showing up at all at the scale of this graphic.

Check out the article that accompanies this graphic over at Greater Greater Washington for more details, and be sure to read the comments for some interesting thoughts from readers.

Source: Greater Greater Washington website, via an email from Matt.

Official Map: Salt Lake Express Shuttle Bus Service Area

January 5, 2015
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Here’s a map from a regional bus service that I had to unexpectedly use this last week in order to get to Idaho Falls from Salt Lake City Airport. Linking the Salt Lake Valley with the major regional centres of southern Idaho (Boise, Idaho Falls and Rexburg), Salt Lake Express is a vital transportation option, especially when airfares for the shuttle flights from SLC into Idaho Falls are ridiculously high (grumble, grumble).

While the map is rather nicely designed, it only shows the general extent of the service area, not actual routes. This higher level of detail could be a very handy thing to know for travellers, as on my trip, some people seemed a little confused as to where and if they needed to transfer to complete their journey: Pocatello is a transfer point for those travelling between Salt Lake and Boise, for example.

The other major fault of the map is that it doesn’t show every town that the buses stop at – on this trip, the bus also stopped at Malad City in Idaho, while on a previous trip, it stopped at McCammon, ID as well.

Minor quibbles: the labels for Rigby and Rexburg are a little awkwardly placed and the dotted line between Logan and the main route line isn’t explained in the legend.

Our rating: Looks good, although it could be a little more useful for potential travellers trying to work out how to get from here to there. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: Salt Lake Express Facebook page

Photo: Toyoko Line Strip Map, Shibuya Station, Tokyo

January 1, 2015
comment 1
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Lovely clarity with this strip map for the Toyoko Line in Japan (the name is a portmanteau of Tokyo and Yokohama, the two cities that the line runs between).

There are four route lines, each clearly showing which stations the different service types stop at. From top to bottom, these are Local, Express, Commuter Express and Limited Express. Interchanges with other lines – regardless of operating company – are also shown, and it’s bilingual as well!

My only quibble is this map’s placement halfway down a stairwell, which seems bound to cause problems at rush hour.

Source:nicolasnova/Flickr

Photo – Official Map: Atlanta Streetcar In-car Strip Map

December 31, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

Here’s a photo from long-time correspondent Matt’ Johnson of the in-car strip map for the just-opened-yesterday Atlanta Streetcar. I sort of get a Transport for London/Tube Map vibe from it, and that’s a good thing in my eyes. Simple, clean, bold, easy to read, and it doesn’t try to over-complicate or “dress up” what is a very simple loop system.

It’s not completely perfect: all the station names are left-aligned and aligned to the left edge of the stop markers, except at Park Place, where the label has to be pushed further left so it doesn’t overlap the stop marker or the route line. Having set up that exception to the rule, the map then fails to use it for the Luckie at Cone stop, which just looks a little cramped for room.

I also think that the label for Woodruff Park might have benefited from being set in one line instead of two: it gets a little too close to Park Place for my liking. I also think the placement of the “Express Bus” labels is a little inconsistent, but the Centennial Olympic Park stop really makes things difficult in that regard.

Our rating: Simple, clean and nicely legible from a distance. More strip maps should be like this. Three-and-a-half stars.

Source: tracktwentynine/Instagram

Photo: Stride Gum Advert, Montreal, 2008

December 30, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Advertising
Tags:

You know, because the flavour lasts a long, long time.

Source: kellergraham/Flickr

Submission – Historical Map: Berlin U-Bahn Map, 1961

December 28, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Submitted by procrastinator-penguin, who says:

Love your blog and it would be an honour to be featured! I found this map of Berlin by accident, and have no idea of the date, but I note The Wall is still marked on it. Personally, I think it’s quite beautiful in a way, if a little messy – I really don’t understand the red line well. I like the bold line colours, though.

Transit Maps says:

Thanks for this great submission! The history of transit in Berlin is fascinating, and has been the subject of many previous posts on this blog. Fortunately, thanks to the comprehensive database of Berlin transit maps at the berliner-verkehr.de website, it’s pretty easy to date this map to 1961 – the very year that the Berlin Wall was erected.

The presence of the orange line shown between Leopoldplatz and Spichernstrasse (known as Line “G” at the time, now part of the U9) dates the map a little more precisely to around late August 1961. By this time, the Wall had been constructed, but the map still makes no differentiation between stations on opposite sides of it. The 1963 version draws U-Bahn lines in East Berlin with thinner strokes, and by 1966 the now infamous Geisterbahnhöfe have appeared, with stations on the eastern side of the boundary being crossed out.

The red lines aren’t actually that hard to understand with a little research: this was known as “Line A” at the time and had two main branches – from Krumme Lanke to Pankow (in East Berlin) and from Reichskanzlerplatz to Pankow as well. The short stub between Richard-Wagner-Platz and Deutsche Oper stations operated as a shuttle train only.

As for the look – it’s perhaps a little chaotic in its layout, but still hangs together pretty well, helped by some lovely hand lettering.

Submission – Fantasy Map: Southern Ontario Frequent/Rapid Transit Map by Jimmy Wu

December 23, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Fantasy Maps
Tags:

Submitted by Jimmy, who says:

I had initially completed this fantasy map of the rapid and frequent transit networks in and around Toronto and Ottawa in early 2014, but I was a bit hesitant to ask you to review it because it is one of the first transit maps I’ve made; now that the year is over, I would appreciate a review with some possible feedback that I can implement in a possible new iteration. Some things to note: I chose to include routes that were fast and/or frequent; ideally, every route denoted on this map with the exception of the regional rail lines would have frequencies of 10 minutes or less. The numbering of the routes is inconsistent because I haven’t given much thought into whether the operation of all the services would be integrated; I had only intended to illustrate the routes as those that can be accessed with the PRESTO fare payment card (which is why I have left out some route numbers in many ‘Terminating Services’ boxes, and in the legend).

Transit Maps says:

One of the first transit maps you’ve made, Jimmy? Wow. Seriously, this is super impressive work. There’s a great visual hierarchy, with each mode clearly and easily differentiated from each other (the “double stroke” for light rail is particularly effective). Definitely puts me in mind of this great Paris/Île-de-France map (Jan 2014, 4.5 stars), which sets the standard for this type of multimodal transit diagram in my eyes.

There’s a bit of a dichotomy between your stated goal of showing frequent services and the depiction of the regional rail – it’s the most visually prominent service and has the thickest line stroke, but actually has the least frequent service. On a true frequency map, thicker lines are used to indicate more service, not less. That said, an addition to the legend of expected headways for each service would suffice to indicate service frequency, as I do like the way that the regional rail forms a strong visual backbone for the map.

You do need to work out what your route numbering system is going to be and apply it consistently to the map and the legend. It makes finding the numerous routes easier, and is essential for assisting colour-blind users.

A minor nit-pick: where light rail lines split in two (like with the ION light rail in Waterloo), you need to indicate direction of travel along the two separate segments.

I’ll also note that this map is physically huge – 74″ x 46″ (or 188cm x 118cm) – with some really tiny type. Not ideal for printing out, but fine for viewing as a PDF on a screen where the map can be zoomed in to show greater detail.

Our rating: Looks gorgeous with great visual flow and hierarchy. Just needs some usability tweaks to be truly excellent. Four well-earned stars.

Photo: Budapest Metro Line 4 Strip Map

December 23, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Official Maps
Tags:

At Moricz Zsigmond korter station. One of my favourite on-platform strip maps. There’s no ambiguity at all about which stations you can reach from each side of the platform, and the current station is clearly highlighted. Lovely work.

Source: Romeodesign/Flickr

Historical Map: “Wonders of New York” by Nils Hansell, c. 1953-1955

December 20, 2014
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Here’s a gorgeous and beautifully detailed map of New York (well, Manhattan, but at least it says there are “many places of interest on the other side of the river”!). It was designed by Nils Hansell, a graphic designer and sailing enthusiast who also worked for some years at IBM (according to the blurb over at the site I found the map, anyway).

As well as some 300-odd numbered points of interest (as seen in the detail image above), it also features a neat little schematic of the subway system in Manhattan at the lower right of the map, still divided up into the three operating companies – BMT (Green), IND (Red) and IRT (Blue).

The map also shows the last vestiges of New York’s once-extensive elevated railway lines: the Third Avenue El, which looks like it’s been cut back to its final southern terminus at Chatham Square. Previously, branches went all the way down to South Ferry (closed in 1950) and City Hall (closed in 1953). In 1955, elevated rail service in Manhattan ended, which gives us a pretty good date for this map of somewhere between 1953 and 1955.

Source: David Rumsey Map Collection