All posts tagged: USA

Official Map: Montgomery County DOT Metrorail SafeTrack Map for August 9–18, 2016

August 8, 2016
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While the purpose is noble – to inform riders of alternative transportation methods while vital trackwork is performed on Metro’s Red Line – this map is a hideous mess. I certainly doubt that Lance Wyman would approve of any of the additions, which look like they’ve been simply slapped on in Word or PowerPoint (the use of the standard Windows typeface Calibri certainly points that direction, anyway).  The wobbly lime green MARC route line (with […]

“Brand New Subway” – a New York Subway-Building Game by Jason Wright

August 2, 2016
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You weren’t doing anything productive today, were you? Because this neat online game has the potential to waste hours – or even days – of your life as you attempt to build the perfect subway system. Tweak the existing system to make it just so, or start from scratch and build your own dream network. The game will rate you on estimated ridership and per-ride cost, as compared against the baseline of the current system.  […]

Project: Streetcars and Electric Railways in Portland, 1920

July 31, 2016
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It's safe to say that I'm fascinated with the rich transit history of my adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon, and it's certainly something that I've explored before. This new project started out with a very simple goal – to produce a route map of Portland streetcars at their zenith in 1920 that showed each line separately – but it quickly grew into something much more.

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)

Official Map: A Line Opening Poster, Minneapolis by Kevin Cannon

June 2, 2016
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Via: kevincannonart: Metro Transit asked me to create a map celebrating the new A Line. Posters will be available during the grand opening festivities on June 11. Here’s a great poster by artist Kevin Cannon for the opening of Minneapolis’ curious new “BRT-lite” A Line bus service. While it will have 10 minute headways, branded buses (with WiFi, because god forbid we live two seconds of our life without fast Internet), and stops with nice station-like […]

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 […]

Submission – Official Map: Las Colinas APT System, Irving, Texas

May 31, 2016
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Submitted by Louis Alvarez, who says: I thought you might enjoy this recent artifact of one of the weirdest transit systems in the US: the four-station, two line people mover that serves the Las Colinas suburban development near Dallas. (For me, the most eccentric thing about the system is that despite what one might expect, the cars are manned by human drivers who come to pick you up on request.) The map is such a festival of poor […]

Submission – Updated Official Map: St. Louis MetroLink Map, 2016

May 20, 2016
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Submitted by Bruce Englehardt, who says: It’s been a while since your last review of the St. Louis MetroLink map (Dec. 2011, a generous 3 stars), and it has since been updated. Of note is the new Gateway Arch symbol and redundant labels. The labeling for stations seems more consistent overall and they’ve retained the parking labels (though now with colors that could be confused with connecting lines/services). Transit Maps says: Judging by the PDF’s […]

Updated Official Map: Los Angeles Metro Rail & Busway Map, May 2016

May 19, 2016
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The LA Metro Twitter account just shared this new map, ready just in time for the opening of the Expo Line’s extension to Santa Monica tomorrow. Overall, it’s a really nice map, continuing the strong, unified branding and design that Metro deploys across everything: maps, signage, vehicles, stations, their website and other communications material. However, there are a few points of interest worth talking about. First, the map no longer shows Metrolink commuter rail lines, […]