1) Places and Destinations
London is often described as a massive cluster of historic villages. The central core is full of character with many distinctive localities. Quickmap have lovingly identified all these distinct localities and given them a node for you to easily find on the map. Being places of great interest, it is of no surprise that these nodes are usually well connected to the public transport system.
Quickmap have coloured the nodes by what fare-zone they belong to. The majority of these nodes are circular in shape. However, Quickmap have denoted some nodes as squares where they have found the interchange between public transport services to be difficult.
Unlike some transport maps(such as the famous Beck map of the London Underground) the All-on-One puts places before transport links in their design. The cartography is excellent - they have created a visually stimulating map, that contains the whole of London’s complex transport system within one side of A3 whilst remaining as geographically accurate as possible.
While the nodes are set out spatially according to their true relative geographical position it is important to note that the map has a “fish-eye” lens – meaning that the distances between nodes on the edges of the map represent longer true distances than the distances between nodes in the centre of the map. In other words, it is possible to walk between Waterloo and Trafalgar Square in just over 10 minutes but it would certainly not be as advisable to try walking between Acton and Turnham Green!
2) Train and Tube Lines
Londoners all know and understand London’s tube network through seeing Beck’s London Underground map. However, many Londoners have become such expert users of the tube that they become frustrated at the “lies” which the maps tells them in relation to understanding the relative over-ground distances between tube stops and the geographical inaccuracies of the map. For example Waterloo is shown on the Beck map as much further south than Victoria, when in fact these two locations are directly east and west from each other.
The Beck map is also useless for understanding how the bus network interacts with the tube network. By drawing the tube lines on their map to link to the nodes which are positioned geographically, Quickmap have provided a more “honest” view of the tube network.
It also means that the rail network can be easily drawn on with equal importance – showing how the two work together to provide Londoners an integrated rail and tube network, including of course the increasingly popular and growing Docklands Light Railway system.
The tube lines are coloured in a similar way to the tube map and rail lines are coloured by rail operator. Of course, to fully understand the rail services available, the reader will need to check the details of timetabled services – available from the internet(www.nationalrail.co.uk) or by telephone (08457 484950)
3) Bus Corridor Links
London enjoys a very high level of service of buses. In recent years Transport for London (TfL) have invested a lot of money into bus priority measures throughout London. The most noticeable are the increase in bus-lanes, and the introduction of the Oyster smart-card to reduce boarding times. This has had the effect of drastically improving the reliability, speed and frequency of services. Twice as many people are traveling by bus in London today than 5 years ago.
Quickmap have dealt with the complexity of the bus network by first of all identifying the main bus links between places. The links correspond to the road network used to run buses. These generally correspond to London’s main strategic routes. The width of the links reflect the number of buses that run along it – so it is possible to understand at a glance where in London bus services are very frequent and where they are more sparse.
This version of the map represents day-time bus services. London enjoys quite a comprehensive night-time service, with a number of 24-hour and night-bus operations. However, service frequencies are lower and routes differ. We’ll have to wait for now before a night-time version of the bus network (perhaps painted in glow in the dark ink!) is available from Quickmap, but for the time-being Quickmap have helpfully listed the 24 hour and night-buses in a table on the back cover of the map.
4) Bus Service Numbers
Next comes the clever bit. At first, the way that Quickmap have written lots of tiny bus numbers in varieties of colours over the whole map can appear somewhat daunting. However, within a few minutes of accustomisation (we are very intelligent beings after all!) you will discover how easy it is to use this information to scan the options available to you to complete bus journeys between A and B. Again, just think – isn’t it incredible that Quickmap have managed to give you the whole of London’s complex bus network on a piece of A3 paper – and done so in a way you can read!
Along each link, Quickmap have populated the link with the bus numbers which run along it. In most cases buses are running up and down that link in both directions. However, in the cases when the bus is traveling along a one-way part of its route, this is indicated with helpful directional arrows next to the numbers. Each bus number is allocated a colour, which is used throughout the map. This makes it easier to track a specific number along the network of links, to see where it goes to and from.
A) Famous attractions
So – if you thought the public transport side of the map was choc-a-bloc full of information, just wait until you discover the depth of information available on the walking map!
Using yellow globes, Quickmap have mapped out for you every noteworthy visitor attraction in Zone 1 – over 100 of them!
On top of this, Quickmap, with a subtle use of Paisley Green, mark out the many street markets and trade fair venues of London, then go on to colour the most interesting areas in pink, using pink lettering to mark out what type of shops, food and activities you can expect in every location.
Precincts and walkways are marked out in yellow, public squares in pastel orange and London’s great parks, lakes, canals and rivers (The Thames!) are marked out clearly in green and blue – reminding us all of the pleasures of staying over-ground in Central London!
Not satisfied with marking out the most interesting locations in Central London, Quickmap have cut out corners of the map (on any other map you’d probably find irritating adverts!!) to show you Hampstead, Richmond and the Docklands.
B) The street network
Quickmaps street layout is actually much easier to follow than the A to Z for those of us on foot! The map has a consistent scale through-out. In the top right hand corner you will find a key which includes a scale showing the approximate distance for a 5 minute walk.
C) Centres with Public Transport Connections
To help you relate the walking map and the public transport map together, Quickmap have helpfully marked out with circles all the nodes identified on the public transport map. A full circle shows where a train or tube station can be found, a dotted cicle where only buses can be found.
