MBTA Map Contest Finalists

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It's not exactly architecture or urban planning, but I think these will be of interest to many people here.

The MBTA has posted the finalists for its map redesign contest (which Cameron Booth criticized vehemently when it was announced). I'm quite sympathetic to Mr. Booth's views, but the fact remains that these maps are now up for public voting, and I think that makes them worth discussing.

The finalists can be viewed here: http://s.zoomerang.com/s/mbtamapsurvey

Voting closes on September 20. I have many thoughts on these, but I don't have time to post them at the moment. But I'm really curious what other people think.
 
Also check the Customer Service thread for discussion. But yeah, probably deserves its own thread.

I don't think that any of them are a particular improvement over the current one. The curvier one overlaid upon a fairly accurate outline of the city is my favorite.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Also check the Customer Service thread for discussion. But yeah, probably deserves its own thread.

I don't think that any of them are a particular improvement over the current one. The curvier one overlaid upon a fairly accurate outline of the city is my favorite.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's map 4 and it's my favorite too. Only thing wrong with map 4 is that the 66 needs to be rerouted to show that it runs on Huntington and that will require that portion of the Green Line (D and E) to be reworked as well.
 
I don't think any of them improve on the current map. I think you'd need a fairly Crazy Transit Pitch type service expansion to justify any major formatting changes.
 
Almost every reasonable transit project can be accommodated by very minor changes to the existing map. Green Line Extension, Blue Line to Charles/MGH and to Lynn, Silver Line to Chelsea, Fairmount Line, E Branch to Hyde/Cleary. Even some less-soon projects like MU service to Reading and Riverside, D Branch to Needham, F-Line's namesake, D-E connector, OL to West Roxbury, and RL to Arlington wouldn't be hard to fit. It's all spacing and adjustments, which they should really do anyway to unfuck some bits like the curves near Prudential and Courthouse. The GLX means tilting the Lowell Line 45 degree to the left; SL to Chelsea means raising the horizontal purple line through Chelsea a bit, etc.

The only real project that actually demands a fundamental redesign would be the Urban Ring, because it crosses so many other lines and adds new stations in crowded areas.
 
My biggest beef with the current map and I think it's biggest drawback is that it doesn't accurately represent distances between stations, so I'd be for any redesign that does a better job with that.
 
MBTAddict said:
My biggest beef with the current map and I think it's biggest drawback is that it doesn't accurately represent distances between stations, so I'd be for any redesign that does a better job with that.
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The official map must be a perfect square and given the fact that the GL is such a horizontal line, it is nearly impossible to accurately depict distances. Some squashing has to happen somewhere.
 
MBTAddict said:
My biggest beef with the current map and I think it's biggest drawback is that it doesn't accurately represent distances between stations, so I'd be for any redesign that does a better job with that.
Click to expand...

Hard to do, but would great to see a map that really shows Symphony and Mass Ave being essentially twinned, along with Reservoir and Cleveland Circle. Maybe also Beaconsfield and Dean Road. Would be great to show these as an out-of-system transfer with a linkpass.

Another more difficult thing to represent would be to show how Copley is not a place you want to get off if you're changing direction on the Green Line. I've seen a lot of tourists get on at Hynes aiming to get to the MFA by switching to an outbound E at Copley, not realizing they literally must detour the length of Newbury and back just to change at Arlington.

Finally, a GLX under construction line would be a nice little psychic boost (Add BLX, Fairmount, OL to Roslindale and every DMU line just for consistency too)
 
I like the idea of adding some of the extensions as "under construction" sections or whatever you wanna call it. I'd be nervous about adding a lot of them, since, ya know, it's the MBTA and Massachusetts politics, but I think it'd be a good way to get casual riders asking "Hey, when they hell are they gonna be done with (whatever expansion project)?"
 
Shepard said:
Hard to do, but would great to see a map that really shows Symphony and Mass Ave being essentially twinned, along with Reservoir and Cleveland Circle. Maybe also Beaconsfield and Dean Road. Would be great to show these as an out-of-system transfer with a linkpass.

Another more difficult thing to represent would be to show how Copley is not a place you want to get off if you're changing direction on the Green Line. I've seen a lot of tourists get on at Hynes aiming to get to the MFA by switching to an outbound E at Copley, not realizing they literally must detour the length of Newbury and back just to change at Arlington.

Finally, a GLX under construction line would be a nice little psychic boost (Add BLX, Fairmount, OL to Roslindale and every DMU line just for consistency too)
Click to expand...

I can't find the link on Google, but some cartographer with a blog actually did that and indicated stations that were < 1/3 mile from each other. His solution was pretty elegant for depicting it visually.
 
I was able to get Chestnut Hill Ave/Cleveland Circle/Reservoir and Symphony/Mass Ave to line up on one of my future maps. Its possible by tweaking station spacing and the angles the lines are at.

Future%2520Close.png


I know someone requested a full size version of this. I'm working on it, but I had to rebuild my computer and opening the actual files is wonky. This is from a pdf I did, which I guess I can email if anyone's interested.
 
I like the legibility of the first map. It feels less intimidating.
 
My one gripe is that this map uses harsh angles for the downtown turns, but everywhere else it has smooth turns. The most jarring is the BL at state street, which is compounded by the fact that the OL overlaps it. It looks like a totally separate line.
 
I'm fine with the treatment of the T lines and Commuter Rail, but not with the Silver Line (why does it not really show the SL1 airport loop?) or buses (lines are so slight and wispy as to make them unusable and looks like an afterthought - either include them in a real, useful way... or don't.)

One thing that could really throw off visitors is that it looks like the easiest transfer from the Orange Line to South Station is via the Silver Line at Chinatown. Also, the discontinuity of the Silver Lines at South Station is going to get a few visitors all twisted in their knickers.
 
FenwayResident said:
My one gripe is that this map uses harsh angles for the downtown turns, but everywhere else it has smooth turns. The most jarring is the BL at state street, which is compounded by the fact that the OL overlaps it. It looks like a totally separate line.
Click to expand...
I imagine that was necessary to get the diamond- but yeah, State Street is weird, the Wonderland-State line seems to be on top of the orange line and the Bowdoin-State line is underneath it.
Shepard said:
I'm fine with the treatment of the T lines and Commuter Rail, but not with the Silver Line (why does it not really show the SL1 airport loop?) or buses (lines are so slight and wispy as to make them unusable and looks like an afterthought - either include them in a real, useful way... or don't.)
Click to expand...
I thought it ignored the loop too when I first looked at it- but it does show the loop, in the form of a super-thin arrow that's as thin as and lighter than the bus routes. (It also shows the SL2 loop, which the current map fails to)
 
coleslaw said:
Why did that win? It looks older than the current one. The background is beige too, why is the background beige?
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Why did it win?

According to the MBTA:
- Markers for all surface Green Line and Silver Line 2 routes;
- Clearer depiction of just how the Silver Line works downtown
- All lines now have a label with their colors, in addition to just being that color (My note: this is important for colorblind people)
- A more organized re-orienting of subway lines
- Skinnier bus routes, again, making for a cleaner map
 
I see the faint loop - but does that really make sense considering there's no indication that the SL operates one-way through the airport?

I edited my post above to mention some other bizarre SL features on the map: the apparent ease of connection from the OL to South Station, and the fact that it looks like the SL routes through South Station direct to the Seaport, when it fact it is not only discontinuous but actually not even a simple or intuitive transfer.
 
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