strredwolf | On transit maps.

So transit map designer Cameron Booth pulled together a World Cup of Transit
Maps here... which was, what I think, promptly gamed by some transit and
government agencies... and I kinda not liking some of the choices that
passed by.

So I'd thought I'd go through each one, try to rank or rate them. At least
I can try to give points on:

* First impressions (how immediately confused I am, with low marks for very)
* Graphic layout/density
* Color/contrast use
* Information presented

But as I went through and looked at each map... I realized I needed only one
metric: how quickly I could match them to reality.

Unfortunately, most of them flunked. You can have station names and
whatnot, but with little or no landmarks to say "Oh, there's a museum here
and a national monument there and a stadium over yonder..." means the map is
next to useless without *another* map.

To me, a transit map is very much a key part of a tourist's tool as it is a
functional part of a commuter's navigation. If I'm visiting and want to
save cash, I should be taking transit... but if I can't relate to where I'm
going, I'm might as well be lost. It's useless, and the government or
agency that made the map has failed in bringing in tourists.

Out of the list Cameron Booth has presented, the best would be New York,
followed by Washington DC and Bejing being third. Everyone else would be
very distant.