My new banner image is the absolutely absurd SEPTA rapid transit map drawn in the style of the MBTA transit map that SEPTA's actual own graphic designer made in an official capacity as part of their Transit Map Tuesday series where they redid the SEPTA map in the styles of ten different cities in order to experiment and get feedback on how the new SEPTA rapid transit map should be.

What makes this map so ridiculous is the "super blue line." See, on the Official MBTA subway map they do this silly thing where the "Mattapan High Speed Line"¹ is shown as an extension of the red line labeled "RL(M)" because the only reason anyone would ever use the Mattapan trolley is to transfer to the actual red line at Ashmont station. But it's still not actually a part of the red line. You have to transfer, and it's a trolley, not a heavy rail subway. It's silly, but it kinda makes a little bit of sense. On the MBTA map, light rail lines such as trolleys are indicated with letters after their names to show their destinations. You'll notice that it's only the Green Line (which is light rail/trolleys) that have letters, and the Mattapan trolley. The Red Line to Braintree is not the RL(B) even though it could have been. This subtly communicates "The Mattapan line is like the Green Line." With the exception of the Mattapan trolley, none of the green lines with these letter designations require transfers. They're one-seat rides.

What SEPTA's designer has done is extend a part of this logic in the most ridiculous way you possibly could. "Services which connect to terminal stations are extensions of the line." So this map combines an elevated heavy rail line (that goes underground in center city), two partially grade-separated trolleys, a high speed light rail line, and an express bus line into one "super blue line." The level of service and speed of all of these modes is completely different. The Norristown Line (here the "BL(N)") only runs every 30 minutes at peak hours, while the Market-Frankford Line (here the unlabeled trunk of the Blue Line) runs every 3 minutes. If you rode the "super blue line" from the beginning of the "BL(M)", "BL(S)", or "BL(N)" lines to the end of the "BL(1)" line it would take two transfers and over two hours at three different travel speeds. It's also, especially with the "BL(N)", very obviously a very indirect and circuitous way to get to your destination. Treating these as one line just doesn't make sense.

I think a really cool thing though that this map does highlight is that even without the "super blue line" this design language just doesn't make that much sense for SEPTA; while it does make a lot of sense for the MBTA. SEPTA is a gridded city with two metro lines, one that flows north-south through the middle of the city with a single spur, and one that goes east-west through the middle of the city then turns north and follows the riverbank. It has eight trolleys, but they're all different. The 101 and 102 leave from 69th street into the suburbs on separated right of way. The 15 trolley runs entirely in mixed traffic on the surface in historic PCC streetcars and is more often just a bus than an actual trolley. And the 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36 all run in a subway tunnel and then in mixed traffic on the surface. The Norristown Line is modern light rail (rather than a trolley) which runs into the suburbs like a commuter service and connects to 69th St. The Boulevard Direct Bus is... a bus... that wants to be BRT but is not. And SEPTA has a very extensive and heavily used bus network; and a very strong regional rail network that's equipped for S-Bahn type service in parts of the city. All of these transit modes are completely different from each other and function very independently of each other; and SEPTA also just has a lot more expected transfers between modes and services that connect to the terminal stops of other services.

To simplify this down to sub-lines of colors doesn't make sense. It makes them all look like they're the same kind of transit when they simply are not. The "purple line" on this map is a streetcar running in mixed traffic. While it's more cost and energy efficient than a local bus, the level of service is the same. Why is it put on the same level as the subway? Yet PATCO, which is actually a subway, is demoted?

Compare this to the MBTA, where this design language actually makes a lot of sense. Boston has an extensive subway network which functions as the primary transit mode for the entire urban core. The red line, blue line, orange line, and green line all run underground or on a completely separated right-of-way at metro-like frequencies and speeds. The exception being the Green Line, which splits up into lots of little destinations that run on their own right-of-way with grade crossings and the weirdness that is the D line being modern light rail rather than a trolley and the E line not having its own dedicated right-of-way after it surfaces. "Colors with sub-lines" works because they all work as one line. Furthermore, all of the other modes of transit function to connect into the subway network. The buses generally run from station to station, filling the radial gaps so that you don't have to take the subway all the way into downtown Boston and out again. Or they run through areas outside the walk-shed² of a subway station in order to connect people to the nearest subway station. The Silver Line, which is BRT, is the odd duckling, but it still aims to fill in parts of the city not covered by the subway lines and to have metro-like speeds and frequencies (in... theory...) and it does run underground (sometimes). These core colors of red, blue, orange, green, and silver truly are the core of the transit system. The sub-designations are only needed a little bit. Despite the quirks of the system like the Mattapan trolley and the Silver Line, this is still a really good way to communicate how to ride the MBTA, a subway system which already covers the most urban suburbs directly without connecting to terminal stations. And, in a city with a "avenues and squares" street layout, such that the stations are all in a radial design rather than an east-west north-south configuration.

Anyway, I think this map is very very funny and since it combines Philly and Boston transit it makes a very fitting banner image for my profile for now. You should also check out the other Transit Map Tuesday maps which are really fun to look at and compare; and definitely check out the final SEPTA Metro Map design that came out of this process. An incredible transit map and wayfinding system that actually really does make quite a lot of sense for showing how to ride SEPTA to get around the city (although with the bus revolution they're going to have to redesign it again to account for changes to the bus network.)

1. A slow PCC streetcar trolley built in 1929 which was "high speed" at the time but now runs rolling stock from WWII and is maintained by a special team of blacksmiths for historic reasons. This is still consistently one of the silliest things that MBTA does it's only 2.2 miles of track and should really just be upgraded to run as a proper extension of the red line. It's ridiculously expensive to maintain for very poor service to one of the lowest income and most predominantly-Black neighborhoods and they deserve proper rapid transit instead of a "historic heritage streetcar." The one thing it does have going for it is that it's partially grade separated so it doesn't get stuck in traffic.

2. A 1/4 or 1/2 mile walk, or a 15-minute walk, while taking inclines and street layouts into account (versus "as the crow flies.")