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William Cartwright A qualitative evaluation of a proposed new metro map for Melbourne
William Cartwright
A qualitative evaluation of a proposed new
metro map for Melbourne
presentation
presentation
presentation
presentation
presentation
presentation
presentation
Melbourne’s rail system
• Commuter rail model
– Centered on the CBD
– Main commuter rail station - Flinders Street
Station
– 16 electrified lines
– Central City loop (underground)
– 207 stations
– 372 km of electrified lines
Development
• 1853
– Melbourne to Hobson’s Bay Railway
Company formed in 1853
• 1854
– First railway line in Australia
• Flinders Street Station to Sandridge (now Port
Melbourne)
Sandridge 1860
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZC5gtX5-
dis/UlYlk2iljxI/AAAAAAAAF6s/4t1P9RyBtLo/s
1600/Sandridge+map+(437x600).jpg
• 1853
– Melbourne to Hobson’s Bay Railway
Company formed in 1853
• 1854
– First railway line in Australia
• Flinders Street Station to Sandridge (now Port
Melbourne)
• 1853
– Melbourne to Hobson’s Bay Railway
Company formed in 1853
• 1854
– First railway line in Australia
• Flinders Street Station to Sandridge (now Port
Melbourne)
• 1859
– Williamstown railway line
• Connecting Williamstown and Geelong to the
new Spencer Street station
Melbourne ca. 1890
http://www.antiqueprints.com.au/sites/antiqueprints.com.au/files/29-486-albert-park-south-
melbourne-and-prahran-c1906-1386395210.jpg
Expanding the network
• 1880
– ‘Land Boom’ in Victoria
• Lines developed further from the centre
• Electrification
Melbourne 1902
http://www.antiqueprints.com.au/sites/antiqueprints.com
.au/files/6-158-melbourne-street-map-c1890-
1386385569.jpg
Sandringham Station at the Official Opening, 10th March, 1919.
http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/img/article/23_1.jpg
Melrose Street, Sandringham opposite railway station c1920
http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/img/article/35_4.jpg
Boom and bust
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0IAL6v3oUTQ/Uvv4UHv9T5I/AAAAAAAAC6A/GoWvUJXc0hg/s1600/inner+outerCityCircle.jpg
Victorian Railways 1894
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0IAL6v3oUTQ/Uvv4UHv9T5I/AAAAAAAAC6A/GoWvUJXc0hg/s1600/inner+outerCityCircle.jpg
Victorian Railways
Outer circle closes 1897
Inner circle closes 1948
Melbourne train and tram guide 2014
Qu ic k T i m e ™ a n d a d e c o m pre s s o r
a re n e e de d to s ee th i s p ic tu re .
Mapping Melbourne’s
metropolitan rail system
Melbourne suburban rail system. Victorian Railways, Melbourne : Railway Dept. 1884
Source: SLV
1926 Victorian
Railways map of
Melbourne suburban
lines. Victorian
Railways. Melbourne:
The Railways.
Source: SLV
Railways & tramways
map of Melbourne
and suburbs, 1920.
Collins Book Depot.
Melbourne
Source: SLV
+ City Loop 1981
1994 - x3 fare zones
Qu ic k T im e ™ a n d a d e c o m p re s s o r
a re n e ed e d to s e e th is p ic tu re .
2007 - x2 fare zones
Qu ic k T im e ™ a nd a d e c o m p re s s o r
a re n e ed e d to s e e th i s p ic tu re .
A new map for Melbourne
A new map for Melbourne
Exemplar of metropolitan rail
system mapping
Application: Transport
Henry C. (Harry) Beck (1903-74)
Sketch for London Underground map Henry C. (Harry) Beck
(1903-74), 1931. Pencil and coloured ink
Beck’s drawing for the map 1931
1933 ‘pocket
‘version
‘Beckesque’ followers
George Salomon
New York City Transit
Authority (NYCTA)
map, 1958
Influenced by Beck
http://www.aiga.org/the-mostly-true-story-of-
helvetica-and-the-new-york-city-subway/
Erik Spiekermann, Berlin U-Bahn map 2014
Spiekermann:
"My Berlin transit diagram owes a lot to
Beck. … It works very well for the Tube. It
never pretends to work for other types of
journeys. The only reason people are using
it for everything else is that is appears to
be so simple, hiding the whole complexity
of London underneath those few lines and
angles” (The Independent, 2011).
A benchmark for evaluation
Beck’s rules
• Geography ‘above ground’ removed
– Except Thames River
• Only horizontal, vertical or 45o lines for rail lines
• Colour coding (as per the F. H. Stingemore map of 1927)
• ‘Tickmarks’ for stations
• Symbol for interchange stations
• Centre enlarged
• Outlying extents ‘moved’ closer to the centre
Evaluation
Beck design criteria Proposed new map for Melbourne
Geography ‘above ground’ removed (except for Thames River)
No geography ‘above ground’ whatsoever
Only horizontal, vertical or 45o lines for rail lines
Only horizontal, vertical or 45o lines for rail lines
Rail lines colour coded Rail lines colour coded
Distinctive symbols for interchange stations
Distinctive symbols for interchange stations
Centre of map was enlarged for clarity Centre of map not enlarged enough
Outlying extents of the rail system ‘moved’ closer to the centre
No real compression of outlying stations
• Add stylised rivers – Yarra
– Maribyrnong
• Add stylised Bay
• Enlarge centre of map
• Compress outlying rail network
Going around in circles?
Verdict
Missing link
Good Cartography
Just considering ‘the map’ is
not enough
Material Cartography / Social
Construction
Performance
Cartography
Cognitive Cartography
Cognitive Cartography
A fantasy of orderiness
“Beck’s London Underground map offered
an image of organisational clarity,
brilliantly presenting the increasingly
chaotic city as an object of coherence”
Paul Elliman, 2006, “Signal Failure”, in Else/Where Mapping, J. Abrams and P. Hall
(eds.), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Design Institute, p. 172.
Language Beck’s map
• Shapes the mental image of the city
• Gives prominence to lines and connections
• Focusses on the geography below ground
• Provides the connections
‘Outside’ influences on Beck:
Modern consciousness of the
time Re-configuring the spirit of place, of
London, around the emerging concept of the information economy.
+
“The city as a machine”
Thomas Elsaessen, 2000, “Metropolis, London:BFI.
Machine aesthetic
Already established in the formal languages of the avant-garde
+
“The city as a machine” metaphor
Thomas Elsaessen, 2000, “Metropolis, London:BFI.
http://www.blarg.net/~dr_z/Movie/Posters/Reproductions/Metropolis_Rep.html)
Bressey Report, 1937
The Illustrated London News (28 May 1938)
http://longstreet.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83542d51e69e20120a8120f1f970b-pi
‘Outside influences’ and the
Melbourne map
Cognitive Cartography
Missing links
Good Cartography
+
Thank you
