Submission – Official Map: MetroWest Bus System, Framingham, Massachusetts, 2014

November 8, 2014
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Submitted by Miles Taylor, who says: 

Here’s a pretty awful map I found of the MWRTA bus system in Framingham, MA. I can’t make heads or tails of these crazy routes.

Transit Maps says:

Yeah… this is pretty bad. It’s pretty much anyone’s guess as to what’s going on at the northwestern end of the red Route 7, as it looks like the bus just loops around aimlessly until it finds a way back east. In reality, there’s actually three different Route 7s – 7A and 7B travel both travel from Framingham to Marlborough, while 7C does all the tedious looping around Marlborough itself – but you’d never know that from the map.

Some of the other routes are almost as confusing, and the whole thing has a “slapped together” feel about it: lots of random angles, acute direction changes, angled type… and so on. The numbers shown on the map along the routes aren’t actually route numbers, but the route designation number for the roads that the buses travel along. This took me a few minutes to work out, especially because there’s a Route 9 and a Highway 9!

And while we’re at it: the agency logo is a good idea executed really poorly. You can’t just take a straight-sided “M”, turn it upside-down and call it a “W”!

Our rating: Pretty terrible, but better than some (although not by much). One star.

Source: Official MWRTA Website

Map/Infographic: Overnight Ferry Routes of Japan (2013)

November 8, 2014
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Well, this is pretty much the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. An awesome map/infographic combo from Japan showing overnight ferry routes in that country. The map uses a grid of dots to define the shape of the Japanese islands, and the routes are beautifully stylised, but clear and easy to follow. The minimalist colour scheme is quite lovely and is used sensibly to enhance understanding of the information presented. Note how the blue and purple alternate in the list of routes below the map, logically breaking the information up into chunks.

The list of routes seems to be very informative, showing fares and stops along the route, all of which are shown in a straight line along some sort of a scale (which seems to indicate hours) to allow for easy comparison. The fantastic technical illustrations of some the ships are just an added bonus.

How good is this infographic? Well, the fact that I can interpret much of the information shown, despite not being able to read one single character of Japanese says it all.

Our rating: Looks great while being packed with information. Five stars!

Source: Tripadvisor Japan/Tripgraphics

Submission – (Near) Future Map: Taipei MRT, Taiwan

November 8, 2014
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Submitted by Brandon Huang, who says:

The Taipei MRT is extending the Green Line soon and has come up with a redesigned map. What do you think about this redesign? The most notable change is the introduction of a numbering system.

Transit Maps says:

I reviewed the Taipei MRT map way back in November 2011, so it’s definitely time to take another look at it. It’s not entirely true to say that this version introduces a numbering system, as the one I reviewed also gave numbers to lines, but it’s certainly streamlined and implemented better. All the single-station branch lines are not numbered, bringing the total down to five (from nine), and the numbers are shown on the map as well as in the legend, which makes them a lot more useful.

The opening of the new line also does away with the awkward Red Line/Green Line colour swap that used to happen south of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall station: the new Line 3 runs all the way through the centre of Taipei. The intersection of Lines 2 and 3 at that station is a little awkward, with both lines abruptly changing direction, but the new numbering at the end of each line prevents things from becoming too confusing. I initially thought that the red/green combination here would cause huge troubles for colour-blind users, but I proofed the image in Photoshop and the two shades seem to have enough difference between them to be distinguishable from each other.

Another positive: the addition of icons for airports and other rail services to the actual map. Previous maps had the icons and a lists of relevant stations in the legend only, meaning that a user unfamiliar with Taipei had to scan the map for a relevant station name – not always the easiest thing to do! I also like the addition of a subsidiary route line for main line rail services. However, the blue used to denote rivers is now so light as to be almost invisible, which isn’t great.

Our rating: Some nice usability improvements over previous versions, while retaining the same visual style. A solid update: three-and-a-half stars.

Source: Official Taipei Metro website – link no longer active

New Moscow Transit Map – Draft Version versus Final Version Comparison

November 4, 2014
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A fascinating look at the same part of the new Art.Lebedev Studios-designed Moscow transit map – one specifically designed to show multiple modes of transportation in Moscow (all with <10 minute frequencies, I believe) instead of just the Metro.

The draft version is via Jarrett Walker’s website, while the final map comes straight from the horse’s mouth at the Art.Lebedev Studios website. At first glance, they appear almost identical, but it’s the tiny little adjustments and differences between the two that I find so interesting and that demonstrate meticulous attention to detail that make a world-class transit map.

Personally, I actually find some of the elements of the draft map more successful than the final map, not the least of which is the simply stunning circular dotted pattern used for the parklands. It adds a lovely subtle texture to the map which I find very visually pleasing and evocative, although I will admit that the plain green background of the final map does makes the text a little more legible.

The other odd change in the final map is the way that some route numbers are now set to follow their diagonally-running route line. For some reason, this makes the two separate route numbers (71 and 628) in the middle top of the map detail above run into each other visually, looking more like one long route number – 71628. In the draft version, these routes are set in two lines, one below the other, leaving no room for any ambiguity.

The addition of a background grid to the final map is a necessity, but it does look a little better without it, I feel.

But there are improvements as well: the TV Tower icon now has a thin background colour keyline around it to lift it out of the background and add dimensionality. This works really effectively, especially where the icon crosses in front of the blue monorail line.

Other things to note: the beautiful icons, the superbly understated colour palette, and the excellent handling of the difficult bilingual requirements of such a detailed map.

Photo: Any Map Will Do

October 31, 2014
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A giant wall map of bus routes from the Kempegowda bus station in Bangalore, India. The map may wish you a “happy and comfortable journey”, but it’s not doing you too many favours in helping you plot your route. A spider’s web of lines and hundreds of names cover the wall from floor to ceiling, all in blue and red on a yellow background. Some of the people in this photo seem to have been studying this map for quite a while… 

Source: the_steve_cox/Flickr

Photo: Moscow Metro Advertisements

October 31, 2014
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Two Moscow Metro ads from around 2004 or so. The one on the left is pretty average, but the dress in the poster on the right is beyond amazing.

The original source of these photos on Flickr seems to think that they’re recruitment ads for Metro staff, and translates the headlines as follows:

Left: In the Metro, the Weather’s Good

Right: Hit of the Season

Source: Esthr/Flickr

Fantasy Map: AWESOME Map!

October 31, 2014
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A Vignelli-esque fictional map that explores all the different ways we can say “AWESOME!” And it makes a nice little “thumbs up” shape – also awesome! The slightly distressed effect in the printing is also pretty neat. Apparently this was produced for a show that opened here in Portland yesterday, but the link to the event’s Facebook page is broken.

If I’m going to be slightly picky with this ever-so-neat design, I’d have to say that the use of angled labels for the “station” names is out of character for a minimalist transit map like this – it’s certainly not how Vignelli himself would have done it, as his own New York subway map attests. There’s plenty of room to set everything horizontally, which makes the decision to do otherwise stand out even more.

Source: Jeffery F./Twitter

Photo: Vandalised/Redrawn SEPTA Map

October 31, 2014
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Someone ripped the map off the wall, so a kind soul thoughtfully drew the routes and stations back on with a pen. If it’s done from memory, that’s fairly impressive work.

Source: Josh Kruger/Twitter – link no longer active

Historical Map: Tentative Location of Future Rapid Transit Lines, Philadelphia, 1913

October 30, 2014
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From A. Merritt Taylor’s Report of Transit Commissioner, City of Philadelphia. At the time, only the current Market-Frankford Line (complete with “Ferry Line” extension at the east end) was operating, so everything else shown here is proposed. Coincidentally, the colour scheme used seems to be almost identical to that used today, although the colours actually indicate immediacy of construction – blue for extant, orange for “immediate construction” and green for “future construction”.

Source: 18brumaire/Flickr