All posts tagged: light rail

Official Map: Metro de Madrid, Spain, 2012

March 27, 2012
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Another map that asks the question: how much abstraction and geographical simplification is too much? From what I understand, this map of the Madrid Metro system has proved somewhat controversial since its introduction in 2007. Unlike most other diagrammatic maps, this one completely eschews even 45-degree angles: reducing the map to its most basic form – and one even further removed from the city’s underlying geography. Have we been there? No, but would love to! […]

Official Map: Los Angeles Metro Bus and Rail Services

February 23, 2012
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I really, really don’t know what to think about this map. On one hand, it looks amazing, with a solid and well applied design theme. On the other, it’s so rich with information (with around 200 Metro-run routes plus those of Municipal bus operators!) that’s it’s almost impossible to make anything out clearly. Maybe this is a case of form over function, or maybe it needs to be viewed at it’s actual poster dimensions (which, […]

Official Map: Singapore MRT/LRT System Map, 2012

January 29, 2012
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Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system only opened in 1987, but has expanded greatly since then and now boasts 90 stations and almost 150 kilometres of lines. It is supplemented by the LRT, which is not a true light rail system, but is more like an automated people mover that serves the high density apartment blocks prevalent in land-poor Singapore. In earlier versions of the map, I believe that the stylised “S” logo in the […]

Unofficial Map: Integrated Transit Map of Kiev, Ukraine by Igor Skliarevsky

December 29, 2011
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Yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to post until the New Year, but I couldn’t wait to show this exciting new map of transit in Kiev, Ukraine. This beautiful diagram was designed by Igor Skliarevsky in his own time, simply because he was frustrated with the limitations and design of the official map. As he says on his website (pardon the Google Translate from Ukrainian), “As a designer, I find it difficult to […]

Official Map: St. Louis MetroLink Light Rail, 2011

December 16, 2011
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Not every transit map has the multiple lines and complex interchanges of the London Underground, Paris Metro or New York Subway. Many systems have but a few lines which interact with each other in very simple ways: either crossing at a central point, or – as in this map’s case – sharing a common alignment for most of their length. But just because the map is simple doesn’t mean the designer shouldn’t pay attention to […]

Historical Map: Philadelphia SEPTA Map, c. 1979-1980

December 7, 2011
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A reblog by cranialdetritus of yesterday’s featured SEPTA map asked whether I had covered the SEPTA maps of the 1970s yet. I hadn’t, and tracking down an image proved a little tricky. The best I can find is a modern redrawing of the map from around 1979-1980 – credit to Lucius Kwok of Felt Tip Software for this work. It seems to be a quite accurate rendition, as the photo below – showing part of […]

Official Map: Philadelphia SEPTA Network, 2011

December 6, 2011
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After quite a few stellar maps, it’s time to show what I consider to be one of the least successful transit maps in current use in the US. To put it bluntly, SEPTA’s map is an unappealing, jumbled mess and certainly does not get me excited to use their system (a major plus point in my internal scoring system). Have we been there? No. What we like: Deserves credit for attempting to show so many […]

Official Map: Los Angeles Metro, 2011

November 23, 2011
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Requested by Mr. Grafix, among others. Public transportation in LA is making a comeback, decades after the last streetcar line was ripped up. At the heart of this renaissance is the Metro system, an odd combination of light rail (Blue, Green and Yellow lines), heavy rail (Red and Purple lines) and Bus Rapid Transit (Orange and Silver lines). The new Expo Line is also nearing completion of Phase I and will be showing up on […]

Official Map: Tyne & Wear Metro, England, 2011

November 17, 2011
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Opened in 1980, the Tyne and Wear Metro is the first of Britain’s modern light rail systems. It also benefits from a very strong corporate identity with the slab serif Calvert typeface (named after its creator and one of the original identity designers in 1977, the famous Margaret Calvert) as a core component. The typeface is used extensively throughout the system, even as wall-sized station names as seen in the photo of Monument Station. Taken […]

Official Map: Rail Transit of Stockholm, Sweden, 2011

November 15, 2011
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I really appreciate transit maps that combine different modes of transit, and this map does just that – showing Metro, light rail, trams and commuter rail in a very clean, restrained manner. Coloured route lines (blue, orange and green) set the dense and important Metro network apart from the subsidiary light rail, tram and commuter rail routes, which are shown in grey and thin black lines. Zone information is displayed through a chilly looking cyan […]