Submitted by Lucas, who says:

This is the official map of Canadian Niagara Falls’s WEGO Bus service. I personally like the way the falls are depicted and the river’s sharp 90 degree turn in the lower right hand corner of the map, which I think serves as a nice visual hook. I don’t really like the way the Orange Line is treated, as it is unclear where exactly it runs and terminates once it merges with the Green Line.

Transit Maps says:

Yes, the illustrative approach to the falls themselves is quite lovely, as is the subtle “water” texture in the river below the falls. The actual routes on the map are a different story, however – especially in the central part where the three WEGO routes interact with each other. That area is quite cramped and crowded, which means that there’s not really enough room for all the labels, which need all sorts of angles and leader lines to squeeze in. 

The problem is exacerbated by the silly need to label some stations multiple times – once for each colour! (If you ever want to know why I advocate against labels in the same colour as their line, this is one of the main reasons.) Queen Victoria Park is the worst offender with three separate labels, two of which are set in condensed type and one that is not. However, just a little bit north, the Clifton Hill/Hornblower Niagara Cruises stop only gets one label (in blue), probably because the designer started crying at the thought of having to triplicate that long name.

Another problem is that when labels cross route lines, they get a white keyline to separate them from the same-coloured background, which make them stand out in comparison to other labels. If the labels were good old black instead of coloured, maybe this keyline wouldn’t be needed, or one that was the background green could be used for a subtler effect.

As for the Orange Line, I think the main problem is that the main map and the inset tell different stories, which makes things ambiguous – this is never a good outcome on a transit map!

Our rating: Some nice decorative touches, but a bit of a mess as an actual map. It’s usable, but it certainly makes everything more complex and messy than it really needs to be. Two-and-a-half stars.

Source: WEGO website