Using transit can be intimidating to a potential rider. When they look at your transit maps, you have mere seconds to convince them they can figure it out before they give up and find another way to travel.
Many small transit systems have maps designed by a transit planner who understands the transit system inside and out. To this person, the routes might seem obvious and simple. But to a non-rider, they can be very hard to understand. To make information that is easy to understand, it is helpful to try to imagine that you know absolutely nothing about the transit system, and that you are trying to learn how to use it for the first time.
One of the most important rules of transit map design is to keep everything as simple as possible, without leaving out any critical information. Too much information on a map can make it difficult to find the route information that a rider needs. Too little information can leave the potential riders wondering where the route actually goes.
Keep the background of the map, such as bodies of water, roads, and highways, light enough that the critical route information will stand out. A light gray background with white roads and light blue water is often a good solution. These elements should be there for context, but you don’t want them to distract from the important route information.
If you are designing maps and schedules–for a single route or many routes–it is helpful to visually connect locations on the map with the same locations on the timetable. One way to do this is to use a “timepoint” letter or number. In the example below, letters within bold red dots are used to indicate a location on the map and the same location on the timetable.
This helps a user find the proper part of the timetable to look at based on their boarding location.
Maps also can be useful for demand-response services to answer a key question potential passengers have: “Is my home or destination in the service area?”
Service area maps should clearly define the boundaries of the service area and highlight communities and key destinations (hospitals, shopping centers, colleges, etc.).
Enough major roads should be shown to help the reader orient themselves, but not so much as to make the map confusing. In some systems it may be necessary to divide the overall service area into zones and show those boundaries. Again, think like a new rider and answer the questions they are likely to have.
About 8% of all men and 0.5% of all women are colorblind. While the use of color can be a great way to distinguish pieces of information on a map, it’s important not to rely solely on color. If route lines are different colors, be sure that space between them helps differentiate them, and that the route numbers or names are placed on the map to make it obvious which line it is referring to.
You can test any map to approximate what it looks like by using a colorblindness simulator such as
Coblis. Save your map, or a portion of it, as a JPG image, and upload it to their website to see a simulation of what it would look like to people with various forms of colorblindness. The most common types of colorblindness (and thus the most important to test for) are deuteranomaly, deuteranopia, protanomaly and protanopia.
Google Maps can be a good source for a background map to draw your route maps on. Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn’t have a way to export an image, so the best way may be to take a screen shot of the area. But before you do that, explore the options for different types of maps.
After setting up your base map using the steps above, you may draw your routes right in Google Maps. This isn’t a perfect solution, and does have limitations, but it might work for you.
You can import your map into Canva, where you can add street names, route numbers, landmarks, symbols, etc.
Simply use the Text tool to drop text onto your map. If you want to use any icons or shapes to identify bus stops or landmarks, click on Elements in the left toolbar.
When you’re finished designing your map, you may want to group all of the elements together so that you can move it or scale it as a single item, and so that you can easily copy/paste it into another design.
Or you can save your map as a graphic by pasting it into a new blank Canva design and clicking the “Share” button, then selecting “Download” and saving it as a JPG, PNG or SVG file. Then you can drag that file into your Canva “Uploads” panel to use it in other Canva designs.
Paste your map into a new blank Canva design, and click the “Share” button, then select “Download” to save it as whatever file type you’d like. A PDF file is useful for sharing via email or for printing. JPG or PNG files may be preferred for use on your website.
This video walks you through the process outlined above for creating a basemap in Google Maps and adding details to the map in Canva.
Updated June 20, 2024
A program of the Federal Transit Administration administered by the Neponset Valley TMA
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