All posts tagged: Los Angeles

Unofficial Map: Los Angeles Metro for the “Analogue Guide: Los Angeles”

March 31, 2014
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Submitted by Stefan, who says: Hi Cameron, I thought I’d share the Los Angeles Metro map that we designed for the Analogue Guide Los Angeles. We always include “alternative” transit maps in our guide books, such Eddie Jabbour’s KickMap or Mark Noad’s Tubemap. In Los Angeles, given the sheer lack of maps, we designed one in-house. It would be great to hear your thoughts on it! Transit Maps says: Thanks for sharing, Stefan! This is quite a neat […]

Fantasy Map: North American Metro Map by Mark Knoke

February 6, 2014
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Obviously inspired by – and clearly credited as such – the brilliant xkcd “Subways of North America” map, here’s a quite staggeringly detailed map of pretty much every rail-based rapid transit system in North America, including future expansions and upcoming new systems like Honolulu’s HART elevated light rail. Like the xkcd map, all the systems link up at their termini to form one giant Metro map that spans the entire continent. True, the map isn’t […]

Fantasy Future Map: Los Angeles County Light Rail System from the Movie “Her”

January 9, 2014
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I love it when I’m able to fulfill requests from readers. Here’s a note I got from an anonymous follower the other day: The new movie “Her” is set in a futuristic LA with a very un-LA-like amount of public transport use and at one point includes a shot off to the side of the frame of a map showing a much, much bigger LA Metro rail network. Would love to see that on this […]

Photo – Historical Map: Pacific Electric Strip Map

July 22, 2013
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Submitted by Sam Huddy, who says: This is a strip map of the Santa Monica Air Line that appears on several station platforms along the Expo Line in Los Angeles. As far as I know, this idea is original to the Metro era. As a work of art, the stops are unlabeled, and typical of the PE, it’s unclear what makes some stops “major” or “minor.” Transit Maps says: This is actually a lovely little […]

Official Future Map: Los Angeles Metro Rail

June 14, 2013
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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency released a “under construction”  map yesterday, showing all the lines that are planned for the near future: Expo Line Phase 2, Gold Line Foothill Extension, the Crenshaw/LAX Line, Purple Line Extension and the ambitious downtown Regional Connector. Overall, the map fits quite well into the existing LA Metro design aesthetic, although the crowded downtown area is now starting to make the station labelling look a little cramped and […]

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

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