Last January The Transport functions of Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) and the planning and procurement functions of Helsinki City Transport (HKL) were joined to form a new Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL).
When the design of the identity of the new company was then handed to a trendy design agency Kokoro & Moi, which is specialized in innovative and cutting edge branding, I was a bit worried. Why? Because The identity of a large transport authority is not just about the brand. An important part of it is the way the company communicates it’s complex route and timetable information.
So a while ago I noticed something, I had been fearing. The old tram route maps had gone through a transformation. Not a bad thing in itself, but not all change is for the good. I don’t know if the map was done by Kokoro & Moi itself, or some other agency, but I suppose that’s not the point here.
In the old route map, the tram lines are overlaid on top of a Helsinki street map. Albeit the map is not the most elegant design and even severely cluttered in the center where several lines meet, it has one important feature: context.
Click image to see full map in PDF format
The underlying street map gives the user a reference of the actual routes of the tram lines and the precise locations of the stops.
And then there is the new route map.
Click image to see full map in PDF format
Yet another spinoff of the legendary Harry Beck’s London underground map (or should I say diagram) that has become the industry norm nowadays. But while Beck-styled topological design might be a totally feasible approach for underground metro lines, in which the routes them selves are not as important as the relative location and order of the stations, it certainly is not working for trams lines.
The main purpose of a route map should be a reference to help the user choosing the right connection to reach a final destination. A destination they in most cases can also locate on a map (at least in a small city like Helsinki). So the exact route and locations of the stops is quite essential, if not the most important bit of information.
But in the new map, the context has been totally put aside. The only reference to the actual real world route of the tram is the quite arbitrary stop names, that previously weren’t even listen in the map. Not even districts are mentioned.
So to be able to read the map, you have to know the official name of the stop nearest to your destination. Even most of the locals don’t know the names of all of them, let alone a visitor unfamiliar with the city.
Another shortcoming of the map, caused by the use of the Beck’s topological style is the forced 90° and 45° angles used to make the spaghetti of interweaving lines clearer. While the city center might now be a bit easier to comprehend, the forced angles distort the lines so, that it is impossible to estimate even remotely in which part of the city the routes go.
For example the main street, Mannerheimintie running diagonally thru the whole western part of city center has been put in a 90° angle, and forced to make a non-excisting turn north of the Kansaneläkelaitos stop, where the 3T and 7A turn west to Nordenskiöldinkatu.
Following the routes 4 and 10 to their terminus seems to take them near to each other, even when number 4 should actually head to west to Munkkivuori, and number 10 to north to Huopalahti.
Comparison of routes 4 and 10 in both maps.
To ad up the failure in design, they even messed up the implementation. While posting the new maps in the tram windows, they have simply been placed them on top of the old ones. Backlight renders the maps unreadable.
Route map in the tram window
