Brought to my attention by Twitter user Zmapper, here’s a first (and hopefully a last) for a public transit agency – an official map that’s been drawn in Microsoft Excel. Lest you think I’m joking, the downloadable PDF on the EzRider website is named “Copy of Midland Bus Routes sch 2.xlsx”. The visible cell gridlines behind the map are also a bit of dead giveaway. I understand that smaller agencies are strapped for time, money and […]
A little while ago, someone asked me on my "Transit Maps" blog whether I had ever seen a map of the New York subway system in the style of the London Underground diagram. Rather surprisingly, I hadn't actually come across one, so - surprise! - I decided to draw one up myself.
This small cafe on Fifth Avenue in Portland is housed in one of the last remaining bus shelters from the pre-2007 transit mall, and (awesomely) still retains the maps and informational signage of that vintage. To the left is the transit mall directory, featuring the last iteration of Portland’s icon-based route grouping – a beaver for routes to the southeast, a leaf for southern routes, a rose for southwest routes, and a deer for those […]
Yes, it’s a cheap shot, but I just couldn’t resist. For those who haven’t heard, the Washington DC Metrorail will shut down entirely tomorrow for emergency inspection on its wiring after a previous fire. On a weekday, with less than a day’s advance warning.
Submitted by SounderBruce, who says: Of Seattle’s many, many unsuccessful attempts to build a rapid transit system, none sting more than the century-old Bogue Plan. Rejected by a landslide of 10,000 votes (out of 40,000 total cast) on March 5, 1912, Virgil Bogue’s ambitious comprehensive plan to convert the regraded remains of Denny Hill into a Beaux-Arts civic center reminiscent of European city centers would have been well served by 91 miles of rapid transit […]
Here’s a gem of an old map, sent my way by long-time follower, Mike Christensen. It’s an overview map of the UTA bus system in Salt Lake City from 1979, done in that cheerful cartoony illustration style that was so beloved at the time. I especially like how there’s a slight perspective to the whole map, as if we were looking towards Salt Lake City from an elevated viewpoint far to the south. I’m also loving […]
Submitted by long-time correspondent, Kara, who says: Here’s a project I’ve been working on for a while now—quite possibly one of the most difficult maps I’ve ever made. You and I hold similar opinions of Chicago’s RTA system map, namely, that it’s decent, but it could be better. So I’ve been working on optimizing a unified map of Chicago’s urban rail, showing the CTA and the inner regions of the Metra. My goal was to […]
Submitted by Nick, who says: Thanks again so much for your feedback and review of my Connecticut map (April 2015). I’ve been working on a few new maps, and I’ve finally gotten one in a place where I’d love to have your feedback. I don’t know if you’ve seen the West Wing, but there’s an episode where some characters have a meeting with the made-up Cartographers for Social Equality. The thrust of their argument is […]
Taken from a rather breathless prospectus promoting the Avenue of the Americas (also known as plain old Sixth Avenue, New York) as the economic and cultural epicentre of pretty much the entire universe. Produced by the Avenue of the Americas Association, and entitled simply “From humble beginnings to architectural and commercial greatness – the saga of the Avenue of the Americas: New York’s prestige address and one of the great thoroughfares of the world”, the […]
Somewhat surprisingly, no. I thought perhaps that Maxwell Roberts had done one at some stage, but he’s actually done the reverse: the Tube Map in the style of the Vignelli New York subway map. As you can see, he’s carried across the New York style of showing all the service patterns on the map. In New York, this is used to distinguish between local and express services, while in London, it reveals the secret inner […]
