All posts tagged: streetcar

New Project/Work-in-Progress – Historical Map: Streetcar Lines of Portland, Oregon, 1920

July 23, 2016
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Despite Portland once having one of the largest streetcar networks in the United States, finding reliable, empirical information about it is surprisingly difficult. Books about the history of the streetcar – like Richard Thompson’s series of books or John Labbe’s Fares Please! – tend to be more photographs and captions than exhaustive detail, internet sources are incomplete and at times contradictory, and even contemporaneous sources are frustratingly incorrect. A much-referenced Pittmon map of streetcar lines […]

Historical Map: Washington, DC Streetcar Trackage as of August 1958

June 16, 2016
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A handsome hand-drawn map of the entire D.C. Transit streetcar network from August 1958, less than four years before the system closed entirely. The map was drawn by Charles Wagner, who was an active member of the Washington, DC chapter of the Electric Railway Historical Society in the 1950s, an august body that still exists to this day. Source: Discover DC History archive (link no longer active)

Submission – Official Future Map: RTA of Southeast Michigan Regional Master Transit Plan

June 1, 2016
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Submitted by Mike Moran, who says: Southeast Michigan’s local/regional transit plan, an ambitious 20-year, $4.6B plan to provide actual transit options to the greater Detroit area. Heavy reliance on BRT, plus a new regional rail line. One thing to note is the Woodward streetcar (nearing completion) is barely a blip at this scale. As a side note, I’m currently in Portland for a conference (my first time here) and I love the transit system! I […]

Official Map: KC Streetcar, Kansas City, Missouri, 2016

May 6, 2016
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America’s latest modern streetcar line opens today (May 6th, 2016) in Kansas City, Missouri, running approximately two miles north from Union Station to the River Market district. To go with the new system, there’s also this spiffy new map, which will be mounted at stops along the route, as seen in this great photo taken by Edward Russell. Overall, I like it a lot: it’s clean and simple with just enough detail for users to […]

Photo: Homespun Tactile MBTA Map for Visually Impaired Users

April 28, 2016
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Although this crafty map of the MBTA rapid transit system is very obviously home-made, it has some clever ideas for helping visually impaired riders. Each route line is constructed with different materials, each with their own texture, which enables quick identification of lines by touch. Stations are marked with beads, and there are Braille labels as well, although the placement of some of them could be better. The photo was taken at a disabilities conference […]

Historical Map: Rail Car and Bus Routes of Central Vancouver, April 1953

April 27, 2016
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A hand-coloured and lettered (in what looks like colour pencil!) map showing the various streetcar, interurban trains and bus routes in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia in 1953 – just five years before the interurban trains ceased operations. The north pointer on this map is one of the loveliest I have seen. See also: this charming illustrated transit map of Vancouver from 1930. Source: City of Vancouver Archives/Flickr

Submission – Unofficial Map: SEPTA Regional Rail and Rapid Transit by Sam Winfield

April 26, 2016
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Submitted by Sam, who says: Hey! For my Graphic Design Thesis, I created a Graphics Standard Update proposal for SEPTA. This includes a System Map (attached), a line map, and various other identity pieces. The most challenging part of the project was creating a Transit map that organized the current information in a way that felt unique to Philadelphia, and increased readability. Transit Maps says: A bold and radical departure from the status quo from […]

Unofficial Map: Greater Tokyo Railway Network by “Kzaral”

March 14, 2016
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Whoa. An incredibly detailed “Underground-style” map of rail in the Greater Tokyo area – it seems to show everything from ropeways, aerial cables and streetcars all the way up to Shinkansen – by Flickr user Kzaral.  Transliterating the station names to English means that the diagram simply can’t be as compact as other maps where Japanese characters are used, but there’s still a good sense of rhythm and balance to the map. All labelling is horizontal, […]

Submission – Official Map: DC Streetcar Strip Map, 2016

March 7, 2016
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Submitted by Edward Russell, who says: DC Streetcar has published a simple, straightforward strip map in the streetcars that began running a week ago in DC. Hopefully this is the beginning of a far larger streetcar renaissance in DC! Transit Maps says: I’m going to resist the temptation to comment on the protracted process that’s led to the delayed opening of this streetcar line. Nor am I going to enter into the whole streetcars in […]

Historical Map: Vancouver City and Suburban Lines, c. 1930

March 3, 2016
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Via: illustratedvancouver: A Guide to Vancouver, the complete map by Peter Hugh Page, a pamphlet by BCER circa 1930, pre-Lions Gate Bridge. “BCER Takes you everywhere!” From the VPL Special Collections, SPEMAPC 388.46 V223b 1930 A charmingly breezy little map of streetcar, interurban rail and motorbus services in Vancouver in 1930. Hand-drawn by one Peter Hugh Page (even the BCER logo!), the map features a number of crudely drawn but amusing vignettes of life in […]