Twin Cities Future Transit Map

[Visualizer]

Here's the latest update, which mostly includes bug fixes and small additions like missing station labels, city/hood labels, commuter lines, etc.


I'm also taking your suggestions for which regional destinations to be included on the map (i.e. State Fairgrounds)

DOWNLOAD FUTURE TRANSIT MAP
(3500 px, 900 kb)

[David Greene]

This is looking nice! I would include St./Ave. on the numbered roads. Locals will know what you mean but visitors could get confused. So 21st. St., 38th St., etc.

[kellonathan]

This is great!
I see you omitted "Avenue" or "Street" for most of the stations---which I like, by the way.

What's everyone's opinion about omitting "Avenue" or "Street" for station names? Should we just omit everything? or just "Street"? What's the difference between "Avenue" or "Street" in the TC area?

[David Greene]

Couple other suggestions and questions (pardon me if these have already been asked!)

You have 494 labeled as 394 on the western edge

Labeling regions "Uptown," "Phillips" and "Powerhorn" seems odd. Why use neighborhood names some places and regional names other places? Maybe rename Phillips/Powerderhorn as "Midtown" since that's the regional branding the city uses.

Put "Historic Rondo" below the Green Line, directly under "South Frogtown."

Drop the "South" from "South Frogtown."

Add "Little Mekong" around Rice.

Actually, just name the areas as the districts in the fabulous "On the Green Line" booklet:

http://onthegreenline.com/

Add NLX. It's going to happen. Use "To Duluth" as you did with St. Could/Northstar.


Questions:

Where did the 394 "BRT" stations come from?

What's the thin mustard line that seems to track Northstar and...<something else - Red Rock, perhaps>? Commuter rail? If so, Red Rock is a LONG way from a commuter rail line. I'm doubtful it will be in 2030. NLX will happen long before any more commuter rail.

Why not show the entire Red Line?

What's the Lyn-Lakes label for? It's nowhere near LynLake.

[David Greene]

I don't want to be all critical.

I REALLY like how you incorporated a"BRT" and/or streetcars in a way that's doesn't crowd things too much.

[Visualizer]

Those are very good observations, David. I was hoping somebody would point out issues like that.

Regarding neighborhood labels, I added them as a matter of fact at the very last minute. Adding common names vs. official would certainly be beneficial for all target audiences. It's great that you're thinking about these things. Because I have no preference either way, I will take a back seat on this issue and let you guys decide what to include and what to leave out. I would like to make one suggestion though: smaller geographical places and/or tourist destinations can be abbreviated on the map (ex.: Little Mekong = LM, Stadium Village = SV, etc). Doing this will save a great deal of real estate on the map, and we can always explain abbreviations later in map legend.

The second commuter line is indeed an extension of the Red Rock corridor. Given the rather broad scope of the map, I tried to be inclusive of various regional plans that exist. NLX will be also included in future updates.

Red Line / Orange Line -- Rest assured, I'm still working on a visually elegant way of including these in their entirety.

[Matt]

Totally minor thing but I-494 is labeled three times on the map but I-694 is only labeled once. I'd shoot for a more consistent approach regarding those interstates. Love the map though!

[mattaudio]

494 is roughly 5/8 the beltway, and has two discrete segments signed as north/south and the south side is the better side of the metro!

[Matt]

494 is roughly 5/8 the beltway, and has two discrete segments signed as north/south and the south side is the better side of the metro!

Touché

[Visualizer]

---

[Eóin]

Looks nice! I'm not sure how detailed you're trying to be but the commuter rail line would cross University between Fairview and Raymond, not Fairview and Snelling. It looks a little off to see 46th labeled in Saint Paul where the street is named Ford Parkway. I noticed you have Lake and Marshall separately labeled so I'm not sure if you'd like to label the streets separately or just move 46th across the river.

[MNdible]

You still appear to be missing the Royalston station on the green line.

[Visualizer]

Thanks, guys. Everything will be fixed in the next update.

[eluko]

If St. Paul gets streetcars you should connect them to their own downtown. It looks like Minneapolis is stealing Snelling ave.

[MNdible]

It looks like Minneapolis is stealing Snelling ave.

What's a little municipal annexation between friends?

[beykite]

Looks like you have 494 through Minnetonka and Plymouth labeled as 394

[Visualizer]

Transit map in a nutshell. Every map starts by laying down basic groundwork. Colors, shapes, and branding that we typically associate with maps only represent the outermost layer of information design. Everything else is often laborious planning and data analysis.

[Visualizer]

And an LRT to White Bear from Mpls would be a great addition to the network I think.

I don't think you need another Mississippi bridge for this line to work. Co-align with Green until the UofMN Transitway, then follow the transwitway to the East Campus, and up Snelling, Fairview, or Hamline before heading off to White Bear and/or Stillwater.

We'll call it the Yellow Line, then

[Visualizer]

29th Avenue station in Minneapolis has also been renamed Prospect Park.

I've mostly been trying to figure out how to include the Hi-Frequency network in this somehow, but that's difficult since they largely overlap the rapid bus/streetcar corridors.

Ours will also double as a Hi-Frequency network map, similar to the ones described on the HumanTransit blog:

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/08/bas ... pping.html

[tabletop]

Could you add an extension up to Broadway and Lyndale? A stop right there would fill a massive void in the transit sphere for the city. I've raised this idea a few times on this website and frankly I'm surprised/disappointed it's received little to no intrest or discussion on any of these threads. A station at this intersection would have the potential to be very successful and connect a lot of people to jobs. It would be a game changer for the northside, enough land is there to build a park and ride for the commuters comming in on 94, help anchor retail and redevelopment along the river and Broadway and provide a great link to the most popular part of NE (and underserved by trasit) via bus across the Broadway Ave bridge. With the alignment of Bottineau following 55 out to Theo Wirth, I believe a station here would alleviate the dissension of not running the LRT up Penn and instead provide a broad expassion to the reach of quality transit service. If you map it, you'll see what I'm talking about.