You can rarely accuse Muni of being beautiful, but a sleek, new transit map is an elegant reminder that even a 103-year-old public transit agency can still be eye candy.
Muni's newest map, which will hit bus stops in April, took eight years from first draft to completion. The concept first hatched in 2004 as a pet project of David Wiggins, a cartographer, and Jay Primus, a transit planner, who were looking to improve the clunky 1982 map that Muni still uses. The duo pitched their idea to the SFMTA in 2004, but due to contracting issues the agency declined to move forward.
Thankfully, Wiggins and Primus persisted and finished a first draft in 2006. The project revived again in 2012 when the team pitched it to SFMTA a second time; the board finally accepted the map as a gift in 2014. Since by then the routes were a little outdated, the team worked with Muni to verify everything for accuracy. Here's the result in all its beauty:
Although it's a gift, the map remains the intellectual property of Wiggins and Primus. The first printing will even include their names on the bottom. Presenting it as a gift was the only way to finally be done with it and have the map go into public circulation.
“It was a gift to the SFMTA because the planets finally aligned for this to happen,” said Wiggins. “There was no reason before for the SFMTA to push it through because it’s so hard to do so."
So, what's different about the new map? A lot, and it's undeniably more user-friendly for visitors and new residents alike. Gone are landmarks’ names, and users must now read street names bottom to top, making for a less cluttered interface. Frequency of Muni lines is communicated by the thickness and color of each route. A darker and thicker blue line indicates a more frequent route (like the 22), while red lines mark Muni light rail (like the N-Judah). Different font sizes and colors help show major streets like Divisadero.
The map is all part of the SFMTA's Muni Forward plan to improve how public transit works in San Francisco. At an event hosted by SPUR where the new map was unveiled, Julie Kirschbaum, who leads Muni Forward, said the map would roll out in April and also be available via PDF.
While there’s no doubt that Muni delays will continue (especially if it’s raining or a day that ends with y), at least our maps will be prettier to look at.
Top photo courtesy of torkbakhopper/Flickr.
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