All posts tagged: light rail
Unofficial Future Map: Seattle East Link Light Rail (Segment A)
Hey, I got to make a transit map for work! This base map will eventually show all the issues (and solutions) that my company has identified for this part of the corridor, but I can’t show you that part, just the map itself. These “issues maps” are usually created from GIS data overlaid on a low-quality aerial photo, so it’s definitely nice to break the mould and create something more visually compelling and stylish. I’m […]
Official Map: Hong Kong MTR, 2012
Opened in 1979, the Hong Kong MTR (Mass Transit Railway) has a very clean, easy to understand map that visually owes a debt to its previous colonial owners – the UK – via the London Tube map. Have we been there? No (the airport by itself doesn’t count). What we like: Clean and elegant, even with the bilingual requirements of the map. Some unusual but lovely colours for some of the routes, especially the teal […]
Official Map: Maryland Transit Administration Regional Transit Map, 2012
Here’s a large-format multi-modal map from the Maryland Transit Authority, centered on Baltimore. Contrast it against this previously reviewed map of similar scope from the Los Angeles Metro, and it can be seen that the MTA map has got a far better balance of design and usability, and is actually a quite superb and comprehensive map. Have we been there? No. What we like: Incredibly legible for such a dense map. It shows light rail, […]
Official Map: Metro de Madrid, Spain, 2012
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
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
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
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
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
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 […]









