Submitted by Pasha Omelekhin, who has had maps featured on the blog previously.
Transit Maps says:
Somewhat blurring the line between illustration and map, this diagram — created to provide visitors to the city with an overview of transit in the city and how it relates to points of interest — presents the trolleybus lines and the city as an oblique “birds-eye” view from the sea with the mountains rising behind. Printed versions of the map are die cut to the shape of the mountains and sea, which is a rather lovely and unexpected touch.
The attention to detail is quite staggering, with all of the little point of interest icons being drawn in proper perspective according to their location on the map. I’ve often bemoaned icons drawn from conflicting viewpoints on other maps, so this is rather wonderful to see. There’s also a sense of whimsy — the dockside crane on the waterfront is lifting up one of the letters in its label, for example.
The time that it takes the trolleybus to travel between key points is indicated on the map, as well as approximate walking times to points of interest (though the exact route to take is probably left to a more detailed map). Connections to normal bus services that can get to other points of interest are also shown.
If I had one complaint about this map, it’s that the graceful, sweeping route that the trolleybuses are shown as taking bears very little resemblance to the real world. In actuality, the route takes a hard 90-degree turn away from the coast at the stop where route 42 starts and runs along both sides of the canalised Bystra River (northbound on the west bank, southbound on the east bank). While not essential details to show, both the turn and the split route along the river could serve as very important mental wayfinding tools for people unfamiliar with Yalta’s geography — the very people the map is meant to assist. Earlier iterations of the map (see the short video below) showed both of these in various forms, so it’s interesting to see how the design moved away from a more literal interpretation to this more stylistic form.
Our rating: Looks absolutely gorgeous, full of wonderful details and information. However, I feel that the map’s heavily stylised form actually detracts somewhat from its stated mission of assisting tourists. Three stars.
Do check out the map’s project page, however, as it’s full of great information about the process behind the map (in Russian, but Google Translate does a decent job).
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