Fun piece in the Guardian (here) with a quiz on identifying
world metro systems by their shape alone.
Although fun, it’s also a useful exercise. If you’ve never looked at a transit system map as a system
only – without background geography – it can be very revealing of the functions
that that system serves. Some are
very compact and dense, providing maximum mobility in the city center. Others are “leggy,” with long
lines serving suburban commuters but few central connections. Still others are combos of these two
approaches. (The comparisons on
the maps in the Guardian piece are a little misleading in that they don’t show
suburban rail, light rail, etc. that help to complete a system.)
My view: for full mobility you need to do the full combo in
some form or other.
Can you identify the metro system below?
