Submitted by Jan Kolarik, who says:
Hi Cameron! I was just browsing through your review archives and saw that the last time you covered Prague was in 2012 [A variety of maps were reviewed back then: full service, overview and “just right” Metro and tram – Cam]. Recently the transit authority PID (Pražská integrovaná doprava, Prague integrated transportation) released a map of a never before seen scale that I thought you might be interested in checking out. It’s displayed at information stands near metro station entrances and passengers can pick up free prints from the main railroad station. What’s unique about this map is that it includes absolutely all transit routes managed by PID (universal branding and a united fare system applies) within the limits of Prague: metro, trams, buses as well as commuter trains — and the main focus is on service frequency rather than vehicle type, which I find extremely useful. It also demonstrates the nature of a truly integrated transit system, which, for a transit advocate like me, is quite amazing! I was really wondering what your opinion on this map would be as I was personally super impressed by the author’s attention to detail (train tunnels are particularly lovely). Greetings from the Czech Republic… and keep up the amazing work! I always enjoy reading your reviews.
Transit Maps says:
Detailed maps like these are often hard to review, because I’m looking at a PDF on a screen instead of on a large printed sheet as intended by the designer – this map is meant to be on an A1 sheet (841 x 594mm or about 33.1 x 23.4 inches), so it’s big.
That said, my overall impression is that this is a comprehensive and detailed map of services in and around Prague, a commendable effort indeed. The three Metro lines are thick and bright and underpin the rest of the map – I like the use of the Metro’s distinctive “M-arrow” logo as station markers: it really helps further differentiate these lines from everything else. The other city services – tram, trolleybus, bus, ferry and funicular – are only differentiated by frequency, with thicker lines meaning “more often”. There’s no definition of actual frequency given in the legend, so the concept can only be taken as a general indication of how often things run. A secondary legend down the bottom right indicates what numbers each service type uses (1–26 for trams, 50–68 for trolleybuses, and three-digit numbers for buses), which is very handy to know. I also like the icons for the different transit modes!
While the map is intentionally and necessarily detailed, I do feel it can become overly fussy in a few places. For example, the map shows all the curves in the road that the tram lines take north of Malostranská Metro station – a particularly hilly part of town just below Prague Castle – but all it does is obscure the Metro line beneath it. Given a choice between showing the actual routing of lines and simplifying the design so that paths can be followed more easily, I’d prefer the latter in most cases. I’m undecided about the white areas in the background of the map to denote populated areas: I can see why it’s been done, but it makes the whole map look a bit patchy. I’d be interested to see a version where the inner PID zone is an all white background with the outer zone light grey – I think it would help to make the map look a bit less busy and draw attention to that central area bit more.
On a similar note, I think that raster effects are a bit overused throughout the map: water, parks, zone boundaries, bridges and more all use some kind of inner glow or drop shadow and it can get distracting, especially where two different glows interact with each other. I personally think the glow edges on the parks could be done away with to make the whole map a bit flatter and more graphical.
Our final word: An impressive attempt at a unified transit map for greater Prague. Perhaps a little too busy and fussy in parts, but could be great if it was simplified and streamlined a bit. Three-and-a-half stars!
Source: PID website