Seen on Twitter, and requested by a few readers is this new map from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) that shows both Toronto’s subway and streetcar networks. It’s a great concept, though perhaps overdue, so how does it stack up?
Overall, it’s really rather good. The larger poster format finally frees the subway part of the map from the compressed confines of the narrow above-the-door strip map, though they will still exist alongside these new maps. So wisely, the map uses the same design language, which is pretty well defined these days.
Some problems continue, like the teeny-tiny accessibility icons crammed into the station dots, and the slightly inconsistent way which the route number bullets are integrated with the station labels, but there’s nothing egregiously wrong. Icons for other non-TTC connecting services (GO, VIA, etc.) add extra detail without jamming more lines into the map: a good balance has been struck, I think.
The streetcar grid is rendered well – I particularly like the way that routes that run along the same part of a street run parallel to each other, becoming a simple frequency indicator for that section: more lines equals more streetcars! The dense grid does mean that labels have to cut across route lines in a number of places, but it’s generally handled deftly.
A very minor complaint is that the legend just seems to float in space a bit without really being aligned to anything – personally, I would have used the baseline of the map’s title to “hang” the legend from.
Our rating: A welcome addition to the TTC’s wayfinding package. A single map showing all rail-based transit is a great idea, and this is solidly executed in a well-honed house style. Three-and-a-half stars.
Source: TTC/Twitter
I know this is an interagency turf war thing, but it seems weird that the map shows the shuttle bus that connects the subway to the airport and not the express train that also connects the subway to the airport.
There are some pretty serious conceptual problems with this map, though it does look very clean at first glance.
First, a rail-only map makes little sense unless you’re just a major rail-buff – for average users there are better distinctions to focus on like frequency or span of service. Many of the rail lines shown on this map have much less service than comparable bus lines which aren’t shown at all. The 501 long-branch for example has fairly low frequency and until recently no more capacity than any other bus line due to the small legacy streetcars. Other streetcar lines on the map run only at certain times of day. The apparent compounding of service where the lines are doubled or tripled up is almost entirely misleading and illusory.
A bus line like the one on Dufferin (it would be right in the center of this map if it were shown) runs 24-7 and offers 3-minute headways at peak with articulated vehicles. That’s at least as good as any of the streetcar lines actually shown. Why is it not on here? Dufferin Station looks like it has no good transit connections at all!
I think this would be an absolutely great map for some nerdy rail super-fan to have made on a whim – that TTC is deploying it more prominently in many places than their general system map (which empathises service characteristics) is a major disappointment and will only lead to confusion.