A excellent example of how strong transit map design is carried across to other elements of the user experience: here, strong and easily understood wayfinding signage in the Barcelona Metro. Source: airways/Flickr
When your system is as big and complex as Berlin’s, you need a big-ass map on the wall to show you where you’re going. Source: eelke dekker/Flickr
Older transit systems like the London Underground face huge problems with access for disabled users. Originally constructed at a time when such things were not thought about, retrofitting is expensive and difficult. Sometimes, even stations that rely on elevators for platform access – like Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line – are still not wheelchair-accessible, because there’s still a flight of stairs between the elevator and the platform. So what does the London Underground look […]
An excellent example of a fully diagrammatic metro map. Clearly marked routes (both by number and end station name), bright and attractive colours and lots of useful information like bus, tram and main line railway interchanges. The city centre area is nicely denoted by showing it as a white square against the light grey background – the information is there, but is definitely subordinate to the main purpose of the map. There also appears to […]
Without a doubt, this has to be one of my favourite transit maps ever. As far as I know, this isometric approach is unique and it is staggeringly effective. Everything is beautifully labelled, and lovely icons highlight important sites like the zoo, museums and sports stadiums. Unfortunately, this stunning map has since been replaced by a far more conventional diagram – a great loss in my opinion. Have we been there? I’ve changed trains at […]
Love this, such attention to detail. Every aspect has been carefully considered and it shows. Especially love the outlined version of the LU roundel to counterbalance the heavy METROPOLITAN LINE reversed text next to it. Can anyone date this for me? Source: garethr1/Flickr
A transit diagram exhibiting many of the “standard” features of a German transit map: clean design, rectangles for interchange stations that increase in size according to the number of lines that pass through them, and an absence of curves on route lines. A few features set it apart from other similar maps, including the angled type used throughout, set in a slightly odd choice of Futura Condensed – not always the most legible typeface at […]
An attractive and easy to follow map with a few unusual features. At first glance, it appears to be a diagrammatic map in the form of the London Underground Diagram, but it’s actually overlaid on a simplified, but accurate street grid, allowing easy reference to the features of the city. Especially prominent is the Avenue Diagonal – a major feature of the city emphasized by excellent design. It also cleverly rotates the map to fit […]
Presenting my next transit-styled diagram, this time showing all the high speed train routes that pass through France. This includes the French (SNCF) TGV trains, the Eurostar trains from London, the Thalys services from Belgium and the Netherlands, and some ICE services from Germany that operate in tandem with corresponding TGV services from France. It does not show high speed trains that do not pass through France: for example, the ICE train from Amsterdam to Germany […]
Interstate System? Europe laughs at your petty Interstate System, America. In 1975, the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Economic Commission for Europe ratified a document outlining international traffic arteries through Europe and beyond. Commonly known as E-Roads, these highways criss-cross Europe in much the same way that the Interstate system does the United States, but with even more roads and even longer routes. However, this system is overlaid on the top of national highways with varying […]
