All posts tagged: California

An Official Unofficial Map: San Francisco BART Creative Commons Map

May 28, 2013
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In a move I’d like to see more often from transit agencies, San Francisco’s BART has a fully-editable “non-official” version of their system map available for download from their site. It has a Creative Commons license, meaning that you simply have to attribute the original map to BART and it’s free to use, commercially or otherwise. Mainly designed for app and third-party website developers who need a BART map, it’s also great for those learning […]

Historical Map: The City of Los Angeles Showing Railway Systems, 1906

May 13, 2013
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Here’s a great old map of Los Angeles showing the already-booming rail transit network that was found in Los Angeles in the early days of the 20th Century. Electric trolleys first ran in LA in 1877, but  the “Red Cars” of the Pacific Electric and the “Yellow Cars” of the narrow-gauge Los Angeles Railway had only appeared a mere five years before this map was produced. Their lines are represented on the map in appropriate […]

Submission – Unofficial Historical Map: Los Angeles Pacific Electric Railway Diagram, 1917 by Sam Huddy

March 18, 2013
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Drawn and submitted by Sam, who says: Pacific Electric: Challenge Accepted! Cameron, When I read your disappointment on the uselessness of that beautiful map of the Pacific Electric at its peak in 1917 (not 1920), I wondered if it was possible to create a simplified London Underground-style map. With over a hundred routes it seemed impossible, but after several attempts, this was my end result. Any further information is on the map itself. Transit Maps […]

Photo: Los Angeles Rail Maps

February 19, 2013
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Great photo showing how the LA Metro maps are part of a larger, unified, wayfinding system. Consistency of typography and brand are key – note how the titles of each map are in the same location and typeface every time, as is the Metro logo: colour is the main differentiator of information. Source: yreese/Flickr

Unofficial Map: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit, 2011

February 2, 2013
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This post comes about because of an email from an anonymous follower, who says: “Any idea if a unified San Francisco transit map exists somewhere out there, perhaps a la the Portland one? SF has to have one of the more confusing transit systems in the country, what with Caltrain + BART + Muni + cable cars + the F line.” As it happens, there are plenty of unofficial maps showing both just the City […]

Historical Map: Los Angeles Pacific Electric Network, 1925

February 1, 2013
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A beautifully rendered (just look at those lovingly drawn mountain ranges!) old-school map of the famous “Red Car” network at its absolute zenith. It was pretty much all downhill after this: real estate sales from land that had been opened up by the network (the real money that allowed the rail service to continue to run despite operating losses) began to decline and many rural services were converted to cheaper buses around this date. In the […]

Photo: LA Metro Red and Purple Lines Strip Map

October 26, 2012
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the Los Angeles Metro system has one of the most coherent, unified transit agency corporate identities out there. It’s used intelligently and consistently across the entire system – from maps, station signage and onto their website and collateral. Distinctive without being extrovert, it displays information simply and effectively, and looks good while doing it. Source: tracktwentynine/Flickr

Unofficial Map: Caltrain Route map by jeflu

October 23, 2012
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Created by “jeflu”, who says: A better Caltrain map: Caltrain’s current route map looks outdated and provides very minimal transfer information. I’ve created a refreshed map which provides more comprehensive transfer info (to other transit systems and airports) as well as a one-way fare chart. Stations served by Baby Bullet express trains are in bold. A current drawback: I left out all weekend-only and south-of-San-Jose stops. Future renditions could include those. Transit Maps says: This […]