All posts tagged: commuter rail

More Tariff Zone Maps: The Ugly Stepsisters of the Transit Map World

February 6, 2013
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Yesterday’s post on Eastern Austria/Greater Vienna’s tariff zone map certainly attracted some attention: I’ve already received quite a few links to similar maps from different (mainly European) locations. Shown here are the tariff zone maps for Munich, Glasgow and Hamburg, all of which are bewildering in their own way. As some commenters have pointed out to me, these maps seem to be a bit of a necessary evil: the transit agency needs to have some […]

Official Map: Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region Tarifzonenplan, Austria, 2013

February 5, 2013
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Okay, my head is officially reeling here. Try as I might, I can barely make any sense at all of this fare zone map from Austria’s Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region, the transport association that handles rail and bus transit in Eastern Austria (in effect, the Greater Vienna area). I get that there are eight concentric zone rings radiating out from Vienna, each of which is broken up into smaller zone areas, but after that… There just seems […]

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: Using the Floor Map as a Guide

January 30, 2013
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We’ve feautured a transit map on the ceiling of a train before, so why not one on the floor as well? This map shows the suburban and regional train network surrounding Milan in Italy: Milan’s Metro system can be seen in between our two touristy friends. Reading the departures board in the background, I’d hazard a guess that this map is at the Garibaldi FS station. Awkward to use when the station is really busy, […]

Unofficial Map: “Orbital” London Underground Map by Jonny Fisher

January 28, 2013
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Here’s an interesting new look at the London Underground from architect/designer/writer Jonny Fisher. It’s always fun when someone reinterprets something as well known as this: every designer approaches the same problem differently. For me, this map isn’t wholly successful, but it’s definitely thought-provoking. Have we been there? Yes. What we like: A bold attempt at a redesign of possibly the most well-known transit map of all. The “orbital” theme actually makes a lot of sense: […]

Unofficial Map: Boston MBTA Commuter Rail Time-Scale Map

January 8, 2013
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We’ve previously featured Stonebrown Design’s time-scale Boston Subway Map (Aug. 2012, 3.5 stars) – now they’ve produced a map for Boston’s extensive commuter rail network along the same lines. To my mind, this map is even more successful for a couple of reasons: firstly, the time rings are completely concentric, which makes the map easier to read and looks more aesthetically pleasing. It’s interesting to see how fare zones don’t necessarily correspond to the amount […]

Unofficial Map: Metro-North Railroad, New York by Robert O’Connell

January 3, 2013
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Transit maps on Wikipedia can be a bit of a mixed bag. Anyone can contribute, so the quality can range from mediocre to awesome. However, Robert McConnell –also known as “the Port of Authority” – consistently produces some fantastic work. We’ve previously featured his Boston MBTA Commuter Rail map (October 2011, 5 stars), and here’s another fantastic piece. We’ve also featured unofficial maps that show all commuter and regional rail out of New York before […]

Unofficial Map: FrontRunner and TRAX, Salt Lake City, Utah

December 10, 2012
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Brought to my attention by Garrett Smith when he submitted the abomination that is the new official UTA map, here’s a completely different take on Salt Lake City’s rail system from Flickr user H4vok_13. This map is by no means perfect, but it’s an absolute paragon of simplicity and clean design compared to the real thing. What we like: Streamlined, simplified route lines that expand the city centre and compress the outlying areas work wonders […]

Official Map: TRAX and FrontRunner Rail Map, Salt Lake City, Utah, December 2012

December 10, 2012
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Today, the FrontRunner commuter rail system opens for revenue service south of Salt Lake all the way down to Provo, and there’s a new version of the map to reflect this new service. I reviewed a previous version of this map back in July, and I didn’t have much positive to say about it then – and my opinion has not been changed with this new iteration. Quite a few people have submitted this new […]