Please write as an international student.
Perhaps no map you see every day behaves more unusually than a transit map—by design. From TriMet’s own rail system map (Links to an external site.) to
the famous New York City subway map designed by Massimo Vignelli (Links to an external site.) (and its many successors, including the most recent,
launched in 2020 (Links to an external site.)), these maps bear little relation to the geography of the places near to them. Why?
Part of it is complexity—transit systems on their own prioritize getting people around on transit, since they don’t know what riders are their for. Every map
maker has to make choices about what to include and exclude. The result here is a map that is diagrammatic in form: it’s more about the relationships
between points (rail or bus stops) than the relationships outside of them in the larger world. TriMet’s, for example, places emphasis on places where there
are connections across their system at the expense of scale accuracy. One might assume from the rail map that downtown is very large compared to the
entire system, even though a glance at the more geographically accurate (and more complex) full TriMet system map (Links to an external site.) shows that
all those stops could fit between Washington Park and Sunset Transit Center with lots of room to spare.
This form of diagrammatic map, distinct from topographic maps or other thematic maps, was pioneered by Harry Beck, who designed redesigned the map
for London’s booming Underground (Links to an external site.) (subway) system in the 1930s around the concept that riders could figure out their
destinations other ways, but needed to know first how to transfer from one stop to the next. He created the lines set at 45 and 90 degree angles that transit
maps are still famous for, ironing out the undulations in London’s system caused by a thousand year old street grid shaped by the Thames river. Beck’s
design was revolutionary and was copied the world over, but as the Underground itself has grown more complex, the map has followed.
Some designers are beginning to question the ubiquity of the Harry Beck solution—or at least some of the premises most taken for granted. A few years
back, designer Pasha Omelekhin launched a website to showcase a redesign of the Berlin transit system map (Links to an external site.) to reveal a natural
dog-shaped loop around the city’s center.
Consider the TriMet maps in bold above, along with the original and revised Berlin system map directly above: this week, we’ll be evaluating all three together
for critique.
In thinking about what gives the best picture of how to reach a destination via transit, do you find yourself more able work with the transit-focused
diagrammatic map or the ones with more geographic cues?
Does the revised Berlin map strike what seems like a good balance between the two ways of drawing a map? Is it confusing in another way?
What features of the revised Berlin map would make sense to you in considering your own map?
What’s missing from all of these maps?