Twin Cities Future Transit Map

[mattaudio]

Just think if France was connected between Excelsior and Mtka Blvd, the new France shuttle could connect west on Mtka Blvd then north to the West End. Maybe this could simplify the 9 routing, eliminating some of the messy branches.

[twincitizen]

[offtopic]Won't happen though, directly from the mouths of St. Louis Park planners. Other connections will be made in the area, but not that one. You'd need a new bridge over the LRT tracks & trail for one thing. Park Glen Road and 32nd Street will be connected, forming a T intersection with France Ave there. That's a huge improvement over current conditions, without the added cost of a new bridge to build & maintain. That France Ave bus route should definitely continue north as you suggest, it just won't be a pretty little straight line[/offtopic]

[mister.shoes]

When a street is a city boundary as France is, how is it determined which city maintains and alters the street? Or is the actual boundary on one side of the street or the other?

[Viktor Vaughn]

To me, the map looks a little empty without the 4. I know you don't want it to get too busy, but your map has a lot of whitespace between Columbia Heights and Rosedale. It's not a brt corridor, but I would hope that in a decade it could meet today's standards for the high frequency network. One option would be to show the 2nd tier routes that are critical to the system as part of a high frequency network. As high-frequency routes are rebuilt as rapid bus, other corridors could graduate to the high frequency system.

My only other suggestion would be to make the rivers and lakes more natural. It looks cool how the routes parallel the river in certain areas, but to many the unique shapes that rivers cut are seared into our sense of place. Think of a map of Hennepin County. You'd recognize the shape anywhere due to the paths of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Also, I identify lakes by their shape. Using the exact lake shape will help orientate people.

But I want to emphasis, I really love your map. I've spent a lot of time looking at it, and it has helped me to visualize the possibility of the our transit system.

[twincitizen]

Oh the 4...the super busy bus line that will never get any love from Metro Transit or the city because it's not Hennepin or Nicollet. Single tear. (I've been a daily 4 rider for almost two years)

FWIW, the portion of the 4 from the river all the way to 38th Street actually fits the criteria for the hi-frequency network. Metro Transit said they stopped updating that map during the ongoing threat of budget cuts in recent years. The 4 is just a bus or two away from *not* being "hi-frequency".

Back to the map, I would totally support a rapid bus line denoting the 4, from downtown to 50th Street, where it would meet with Route 46. On that note, if the Route 46 is going to be on the map, please extend it over to 50th & France so it can cross paths with the other routes (and denote 50th and France as a significant area).

[Visualizer]

I really need to be wrapping this up, so ... I will simply include all routes operating every 20 or fewer minutes or roughly 1/2 the frequency of the Green Line. Sound good?

[Visualizer]

To me, the map looks a little empty without the 4.

You will be pleased to know that the 4 will be added in the next update.

[DaPerpKazoo]

Oh the 4...the super busy bus line that will never get any love from Metro Transit or the city because it's not Hennepin or Nicollet. Single tear. (I've been a daily 4 rider for almost two years)

I used to be too, before moving to Chicago. 4 love!

[Visualizer]

Bus network: thicker line = 10-15 min peak/base frequency, thin line = 20

Routes added or extended 4, 6, 46, 50.

[Viktor Vaughn]

You will be pleased to know that the 4 will be added in the next update.

I love it. It gives Northeast form and adds Lyndale to the map making southside look like the densest area outside of downtown (rightly so). But mostly I like it because it suggests the 4 should offer decent service.

[Visualizer]

I've added the remaining on my list bus routes in St. Paul. Something that has been low on priority list is commuter rail. Which isn't finished, but will be added back in the next update. Still need to create the HSR markers. I think East/West St. Paul are looking rather empty, is there something missing there?

DOWNLOAD LARGE MAP

[Visualizer]

Attention mapping geeks!

I plan on printing a couple of large maps in the coming days. Anyone interested in seeing it in person? I will be available for a show and tell next week or the week after. Lemme know!

[Visualizer]

Here's the latest. Minor fixes + map legend






Download Large Map



Download Large Map

the metro brt icons are missing from the legend as is the proper copy
- moved the orange and red lines at crosstown highway higher up. The 66th station marker stills needs to be relocated to align with the route 515.
- terminal bus stops no longer display route labels. They are redundant and only draw attention away from transfer stations
- "rapid" bus lines were made thicker (4 pts. lines) than "standard" bus routes, which remained at 2 pts.
- much of water geometry is still a little blah in my opinion. I plant to redo water with a more geographical appearance.
- both downtown areas suffer from readability issues. I'm considering taking them off this map altogether.
- removed the slight bend where red line crosses the river. I think that kind of detail is unnecessary.
- re-aligned the orange line stations south of the river
- commuter lines will not be shown on this map. I felt like including they provided little informational value for this particular map. Later on, it will be possible to make a regional overview showing commuter lines as well as HSR lines.

[stp1980]

This needs to be sent to the legislature, metro transit and the met council. You could even get around this city without a car on most days! Where is this again?

[bptenor]

Rosedale Center is in the city of Roseville.

[talindsay]

Why does it say "21" at the Interchange?

[Visualizer]

Large

[Visualizer]

Need your opinion on something, guys.

Would you prefer to see a map with the street grid as shown below OR one without the grid and only the transit corridors labeled? In other words, the map can have more local context or less context.


bigger

[Tcmetro]

Gotta admit, I like the grid. But then, I am a sucker for geographically accurate maps.

[Visualizer]

It will still be diagrammatic. Just with an added familiarity of a google map

Many European maps favor abstraction, like this one of Leipzig's LVB network (trams+buses):



but the Spokane Transit Map looks just as nice, with the cross streets labeled: