Urban rail and metro maps
Encyclopedia
A transit map is a topological map
in the form of a schematic
diagram
used to illustrate the routes and stations within a public transport
system—whether this be bus lines, tram
ways, rapid transit
, commuter rail or ferry routes
. The main components are color code
d lines to indicate each line or service, with named icons to indicate stations or stops
.
Transit maps can be found in the transit vehicles, at the platforms
or in printed timetables
. Their primary function is to help users to efficiently use the public transport system, including which stations function as interchange
between lines. Unlike conventional maps, transit maps are usually not geographically accurate—instead they use straight lines and fixed angles, and often illustrate a fixed distance between stations, compressing those in the outer area of the system and expanding those close to the center.
), and certainly there are examples from European and American railroad cartography as early as the 1890's where geographical features have been removed and the routes of lines have been artificially straightened out. But it was George Dow
of the London and North Eastern Railway
who was the first to launch a diagrammatic representation of an entire rail transport network (in 1929); his work is seen by historians of the subject as being part of the inspiration for Harry Beck
when he launched his iconic London Underground map
in 1933.
After this pioneering work, many transit authorities worldwide imitated the diagrammatic look for their own networks, some while continuing to also publish hybrid versions that were geographically accurate.
Early maps of the Berlin U-Bahn
, Boston T, Paris Métro
and the New York Subway also exhibited some elements of the diagrammatic form.
The new Madrid Metro
map (of 2007), designed by the RaRo Agency, took the idea of a simple diagram one step further by becoming one the first produced for a major network to remove diagonal lines altogether; it is constituted just by horizontal and vertical lines only at right angles to each other.
Transit maps are now increasingly digitized and can be shown in many forms online.
between two points; this may include having to change vehicle or mode in the course of the trip. To help the passengers, the map must use symbol
s to illustrate the lines, stations and transfer points, as well as a system of geographic identification. At the same time the maps must remain simple to allow overview, also for people unfamiliar of the geography of the area.
Stations are marked with a symbol that breaks the line, along with the name of the station. Users can thus use the station names as reference in relation to their travel itinerary, for instance to find their location on a street map or as part of travel instruction. Further help may be granted through the inclusion of important sites for tourists or other unfamiliar travelers to identify the specific station that serves important tourist attraction
s or location such as venues or the city center; these may be identified through symbols or wording.
Color coding
allows the map to specify each line in an easy way, allowing the users to quickly identify where each specific line goes; if it does not go to the desired destination, the colors and symbols allow the user to identify a feasible point of transfer between lines. Symbols such as aircraft may be used to illustrate airport
s, and symbols of trains may be used to identify stations that allow transfer to other modes, such as commuter or intercity train services. With the widespread use of zone pricing for fare calculation, systems that span more than one zone need a system to inform the use which zone a particular station is located in. Common ways include varying the tone of the background color, or by running a weak line along the zone boundaries.
Many transit authorities publish multiple maps of their systems; this can be done by isolating one mode of transport, for instance only rapid transit or only bus, onto a single map, or instead the authorities publish maps covering only a limited area, but with greater detail. Another modification is to produce geographically accurate maps of the system, to allow users to better understand the routes. Even if official geographical accurate maps are not available, these can often be obtained from unofficial sources since the information is available for other sources.
es and national rail services to sewerage
systems and Derbyshire
public house
s.
One of the most well-known adaptations of an urban rail map was The Great Bear by Simon Patterson. First shown in 1992 nominated for the Turner Prize
The Great Bear replaces station names on the London Underground map with those of explorers, saints, film stars, philosophers and comedians. Other artists such as Scott Rosenbaum, and Ralph Gray have also taken the iconic style of the urban rail map and made new artistic creations ranging from the abstract to the solar system
. Following the success of these the idea of adapting other urban rail and metro maps has spread so that now almost every major subway or rapid transit system with a map has been doctored with different names, often anagram
s of the original station name.
Topological map
In cartography and geology, a topological map is one that has been simplified so that only vital information remains and unnecessary detail has been removed. These maps lack scale, and distance and direction are subject to change and variation, but the relationship between points is maintained...
in the form of a schematic
Schematic
A schematic diagram represents the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the information the schematic is intended to convey, and may add unrealistic elements that aid comprehension...
diagram
Diagram
A diagram is a two-dimensional geometric symbolic representation of information according to some visualization technique. Sometimes, the technique uses a three-dimensional visualization which is then projected onto the two-dimensional surface...
used to illustrate the routes and stations within a public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
system—whether this be bus lines, tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
ways, rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
, commuter rail or ferry routes
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
. The main components are color code
Color code
A color code is a system for displaying information by using different colors. Color codes are often difficult for color blind and blind people to interpret....
d lines to indicate each line or service, with named icons to indicate stations or stops
Bus stop
A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...
.
Transit maps can be found in the transit vehicles, at the platforms
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
or in printed timetables
Public transport timetable
A public transport timetable is a representation of public transport information to assist a passenger with planning a trip using public transport. A timetable details when vehicle will arrive and depart specified locations and may be organised for by route or for a particular stop...
. Their primary function is to help users to efficiently use the public transport system, including which stations function as interchange
Interchange station
An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system, and allows passengers to change from one route to another. Transfer may occur within the same mode, or between rail modes, or to buses...
between lines. Unlike conventional maps, transit maps are usually not geographically accurate—instead they use straight lines and fixed angles, and often illustrate a fixed distance between stations, compressing those in the outer area of the system and expanding those close to the center.
History
The mapping of transit systems was at first generally geographically accurate, but abstract route-maps of individual lines (usually displayed inside the carriages) can be traced back as early as 1908 (London's District LineDistrict Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
), and certainly there are examples from European and American railroad cartography as early as the 1890's where geographical features have been removed and the routes of lines have been artificially straightened out. But it was George Dow
George Dow
George Dow joined London and North Eastern Railway as a grade five clerk at Kings Cross railway station in London, England...
of the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
who was the first to launch a diagrammatic representation of an entire rail transport network (in 1929); his work is seen by historians of the subject as being part of the inspiration for Harry Beck
Harry Beck
Henry Charles Beck , known as Harry Beck, was an English engineering draftsman best known for creating the present London Underground Tube map in 1931. Beck drew up the diagram in his spare time while working as an engineering draftsman at the London Underground Signals Office...
when he launched his iconic London Underground map
Tube map
The Tube map is a schematic transit map representing the lines and stations of London's rapid transit railway systems, namely the London Underground , the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground....
in 1933.
After this pioneering work, many transit authorities worldwide imitated the diagrammatic look for their own networks, some while continuing to also publish hybrid versions that were geographically accurate.
Early maps of the Berlin U-Bahn
Berlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
, Boston T, Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
and the New York Subway also exhibited some elements of the diagrammatic form.
The new Madrid Metro
Madrid Metro
The Madrid Metro is a metro system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the sixth longest metro in the world though Madrid is approximately the fiftieth most populous metropolitan area in the world...
map (of 2007), designed by the RaRo Agency, took the idea of a simple diagram one step further by becoming one the first produced for a major network to remove diagonal lines altogether; it is constituted just by horizontal and vertical lines only at right angles to each other.
Transit maps are now increasingly digitized and can be shown in many forms online.
Elements
The primary purpose of a transit map is to help riders—especially those unfamiliar with the system—to take the correct routes to achieve their travelTravel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
between two points; this may include having to change vehicle or mode in the course of the trip. To help the passengers, the map must use symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
s to illustrate the lines, stations and transfer points, as well as a system of geographic identification. At the same time the maps must remain simple to allow overview, also for people unfamiliar of the geography of the area.
Stations are marked with a symbol that breaks the line, along with the name of the station. Users can thus use the station names as reference in relation to their travel itinerary, for instance to find their location on a street map or as part of travel instruction. Further help may be granted through the inclusion of important sites for tourists or other unfamiliar travelers to identify the specific station that serves important tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
s or location such as venues or the city center; these may be identified through symbols or wording.
Color coding
Color code
A color code is a system for displaying information by using different colors. Color codes are often difficult for color blind and blind people to interpret....
allows the map to specify each line in an easy way, allowing the users to quickly identify where each specific line goes; if it does not go to the desired destination, the colors and symbols allow the user to identify a feasible point of transfer between lines. Symbols such as aircraft may be used to illustrate airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s, and symbols of trains may be used to identify stations that allow transfer to other modes, such as commuter or intercity train services. With the widespread use of zone pricing for fare calculation, systems that span more than one zone need a system to inform the use which zone a particular station is located in. Common ways include varying the tone of the background color, or by running a weak line along the zone boundaries.
Many transit authorities publish multiple maps of their systems; this can be done by isolating one mode of transport, for instance only rapid transit or only bus, onto a single map, or instead the authorities publish maps covering only a limited area, but with greater detail. Another modification is to produce geographically accurate maps of the system, to allow users to better understand the routes. Even if official geographical accurate maps are not available, these can often be obtained from unofficial sources since the information is available for other sources.
Iconic status
There are a growing number of books, websites and works of art on the subject of urban rail and metro map design and use. There are now hundreds of examples of diagrams in an urban rail or metro map style that are used to represent everything from other transit networks like busBus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es and national rail services to sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
systems and Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s.
One of the most well-known adaptations of an urban rail map was The Great Bear by Simon Patterson. First shown in 1992 nominated for the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
The Great Bear replaces station names on the London Underground map with those of explorers, saints, film stars, philosophers and comedians. Other artists such as Scott Rosenbaum, and Ralph Gray have also taken the iconic style of the urban rail map and made new artistic creations ranging from the abstract to the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. Following the success of these the idea of adapting other urban rail and metro maps has spread so that now almost every major subway or rapid transit system with a map has been doctored with different names, often anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
s of the original station name.
External links
- Subways Transport, an extensive site with archive maps on virtually every urban rail system in the world.
- Urban Rail
- Undistorted metro network maps, all at the same scale for comparison.