Transportation
Traveling the Entire Length of California by Local Transit
A new state rail map shows that it can be done — should you be crazy enough to try it.
Local transit maps tend to stay local. Some designate connections to other lines or systems but it's not really their purpose to expand the map beyond the metropolitan area — say, the way road atlases do. Recently a California design team did what local agencies don't: created a statewide rail map with more than 500 destinations served by ten rail authorities plus Amtrak, ferry, and major bus connections.
"I often find myself needing to refer to several maps to plan a single trip," says Alfred Twu, the Bay Area artist and tech worker who led the project's big design team, which completed the map in two months. "Most agencies focus on their own service and provide limited info on connections even when they are very easy."