Updated: Portland Unified Rail Map, September 2012

Sep 1, ’12 9:28 PM

Today is the end of an era in Portland, Oregon.

TriMet, under budgetary stress, has done away with the much-loved Free Rail Zone, which allowed free travel by light rail and streetcar within the “Fareless Square” area of downtown Portland and the Lloyd Center. Not too long ago, Fareless Square also applied to buses in the same area, so the writing’s been on the wall for a while.

At the same time, TriMet has also done away with its three different fare zones, instead opting for a “go anywhere fare”, currently priced at $2.50 (A two-zone fare used to be $2.10 and a three-zone fare $2.45, so this is a fair price hike for most users of the system). However, all-day passes now only cost twice as much as a normal ticket, so they offer great value: even if you only use it to go somewhere and back, you haven’t lost out – and you have the flexibility to use it more than that if need be.

To mark this day – for better or for worse – I thought I’d update my Unified Rail Map of Portland to reflect these changes.

I’ve created two versions: one which shows MAX light rail and the Portland Streetcar as it will appear on September 22 when the Central Loop streetcar line through the inner eastside to OMSI opens, and another which adds lines currently under construction: the Portland-Milwaukie light rail line and the completion of the Eastside streetcar loop, both going over the new TriMet bridge that is currently taking shape in the middle of the Willamette.

Gone from the original map is the northern extension of the Yellow Line over the Columbia River into Vancouver. It’s still in early planning, and – with the way the Columbia River Crossing bridge is currently going – may very well never be built.

The removal of the zones certainly helps make the map cleaner, although it made the solid black background a bit overpowering, so I’ve knocked it back to a dark grey instead.

As usual, comments are welcome. Large (4000-pixel wide) versions are available over on Flickr: here for the current system only, and here for the map including current construction.

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U.S. Highways Map selected for NACIS “Atlas of Design”

May 22, ’12 12:58 PM

[Cross Post from Transit Maps]

Hey, everyone! I’m thrilled to be able to share some news with you that I just heard about! My U.S. Highways as Subway Map has been accepted for inclusion in the inaugural edition of the NACIS Atlas of Design. There were 150 entries, and only 27 maps – all by different creators – have been accepted, so you can see why I’m excited about this!

The Atlas itself promises to be superb, as evidenced by this excerpt from the project website:

The Atlas will feature a gallery of full-color maps showcasing cartography at its most beautiful, its cleverest, its sharpest, and its most intriguing. But it will be more than a museum of images; each map will be accompanied by thoughtful commentary that guides the reader toward a deeper understanding of the work: its inspiration and message, the ways it means to influence us. It is well to look upon something beautiful and good, but once we understand how it is beautiful and good, our experience becomes much richer. For those of us who make maps, we can carry those lessons into our own work and advance the craft of cartography. Even if you don’t make maps, it’s a chance to gain insight into what mapmakers really do, and to see how it’s about more than just pushing city dots and rivers around. Everyday objects become much more significant when we see what is behind their creation.

I can’t wait to see the other maps! If you need a recap, here’s the map’s project page on this site, and here’s a link to the BIG version on Flickr. And of course, prints of the map are still available for sale.

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Boston MBTA Map Redesign

Mar 11, ’12 11:06 PM

Back in January, I posted a review of the current Boston MBTA transit map on my Transit Maps blog – and I had some harsh words for it (I believe the phrase “hot mess” occurs in the text). Always one to back my words up with actions, I’ve been quietly working on my own revised version that I feel improves the map in quite a few areas. I’ve also created a few different versions to illustrate some points about the design, so hang in there: this could be a long post!

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Adobe Illustrator’s ‘Round Corners’ Effect and Transit Maps

Jan 28, ’12 8:36 PM

In my earlier post about drawing a transit map, I made mention of the fact that Adobe Illustrator’s “Round Corners” effect doesn’t work very well with multiple curves around a corner, such as parallel route lines changing direction together on a transit map.

This part of my post elicited a very interesting comment from Chris Helenius in Finland, complete with a nice screen shot of the point he’s trying to make – that there are ways to get matching curves around a corner when using the Round Corners effect. However, the method he shows is a workaround – he expands the appearance of the curve, then offsets the path the required distance. In practice, this is very similar to my approach of keeping a “master” library of curves that I insert where needed – both require some cutting and pasting of points and curves to achieve the final result.

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2011 In Review

Jan 2, ’12 4:27 PM

2011 was a big year for this blog, with more visits than I ever could have dreamed. As you may have guessed, I’m a bit of a geek, so let’s crunch some numbers, courtesy of Google Analytics.

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U.S. Routes as a Subway Map

Dec 17, ’11 8:19 PM

At long last, I present the latest in my series of transit map-styled designs. This time, we have the U.S. Highway system (that’s U.S. Routes, not to be confused with the newer Interstate Highway system – which as most of you well know, I have already mapped).

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New Side Project: Transit Maps Tumblr

Nov 2, ’11 1:17 PM

Well, it had to happen. I’ve set up a new Tumblr where I discuss, critique and celebrate transit maps from around the world – be they official or unofficial, fantasy or real, from the past, present or future. I’ve already got a great selection up and there’s a lot more to come. Head on over to take a look, and follow me or reblog my stuff  if you like what you see!

transitmaps.tumblr.com

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Washington Metro Diagram: My Last Word

Oct 3, ’11 9:00 PM

This is it. My final take on a redesigned Washington, D.C. Metro Map. This is my third major revision of a project that began in February of last year, and won the People’s Choice Award in the Greater Greater Washington “Redesign the Metro Map” contest earlier this year. I’ve taken time away from this diagram to work on a few other projects recently, but the release of Lance Wyman’s draft diagram has inspired me to finish an “ultimate” version of my vision of the diagram.

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Thoughts on the Draft WMATA Diagram

Sep 20, ’11 1:27 PM

The first draft of the newly-designed Lance Wyman Washington DC Metro diagram has been out for a while now, and people have had a lot to say about it – some good and some bad. As I’ve stated before, any changes to this venerable institution were only ever going to be gradual, and this draft definitely shows that as it takes the tiniest of baby steps away from its original look.

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10 Tips for Great Photos From a Plane

Sep 16, ’11 3:21 PM

Whenever I fly, I try to get the window seat. I just love seeing the world go by, reduced to the size of a map far, far below me. And if I have a camera with me, then things are even better, because I love to take photos of the amazing sights I see. Here’s a few tips that I’ve picked up that might help out, followed by a number of photos that I’ve taken after the jump.

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