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.