On tap for tonight are updates about the finer details: the look and feel of stations, trees, and how the sleek vehicle will coexist with the flood of bicyclists, joggers and bar crawlers who regularly use the Eastside Trail.It could open for service by 2027, MARTA says.ĭetails: MARTA planners are wrapping up preliminary engineering studies and will soon prepare the final project design. The proposed extension of the Downtown streetcar on the Beltline would start at Irwin Street near Krog Street Market and run north to Ponce City Market.On the project list: cash to connect the Beltline's western and eastern segments using a streetcar running through the heart of the city. MARTA will hold in-person and virtual meetings tonight and tomorrow to update the public about the extension.Ĭatch up quick: In 2016, Atlanta voters approved a sales tax to build new transit in the city.What's happening: Roughly 20 years after Atlanta first heard about a little project called the Beltline, MARTA's entering the final design stages of a $176 million streetcar line that runs alongside the path. Three-and-a-half stars.If you have any questions or concerns about how rail transit should run along the Beltline Eastside Trail, speak now or forever hold your peace. Our rating: Almost, almost really excellent. Do the announcements call this whole name out every time? What we don’t like: “Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center” has to be one of the most ridiculous station names ever, vying with DC’s “U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo” for the title. What we like: By current US transit map standards, this is a remarkably clean and restrained design and should be commended for that. Have we been there? Only at the airport on a layover between flights, which doesn’t count. Strangely, the contact information at the base of the map is set in Helvetica Neue Light, a completely different typeface! Futura also has a relatively small x-height, which doesn’t make it the most readable typeface at smaller sizes. Compare the elegance of the header type with the bolder “Red Line” labels and it’s hard to believe it’s the same typeface! As a result, the legend looks very heavy, especially with the odd large caps/small caps combination used. Futura, the main typeface used throughout, is unusual in that it looks better at thinner weights. Other overly-designed features also affect the overall impact: the odd drop shadow below the header and the unnecessarily graduated grey background behind the legend.įinally, type choices. It’s a finicky detail that goes against the simplicity shown elsewhere on the map, especially when the black edges butt up to the white circles around each station. This map also outlines its routes in black, something I don’t think I’ve seen on any other transit map. It’s always better to add curves to route lines manually to avoid this effect. I know from experience that this happens when Adobe Illustrator’s “Round Corners” effect is applied to any angle apart from a right angle – the algorithm the software uses is flawed and creates curves that don’t quite line up with each other. When the Red and Yellow lines curve through 45 degrees together, the gap between them increases dramatically, creating an unsightly white bulge. However, closer analysis reveals some elements that jar, and stop this map from being truly world-class. – although any information about disabled access to the system is strangely lacking), and good informational hierarchy (note how the road network, although present, is toned down nicely in comparison to the rail lines). This map is a great example of how it’s attention to the little details that separate the great transit maps and the merely good.Īt first glance, this map has all the elements of the best: a clean layout, an excellent and consistently applied set of icons for subsidiary information (parking, restrooms, lost and found, etc.
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