Cover not available

Article published In: Traffic & Transport: Part II
Edited by Peter Simlinger
[Information Design Journal 22:2] 2016
► pp. 92–115

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Radi(c)al departures

Comparing conventional octolinear versus concentric circles schematic maps for the Berlin U-Bahn/S-Bahn networks using objective and subjective measures of effectiveness

Published online: 11 November 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.22.2.04rob
References (45)
Bartram, D.J. (1980). Comprehending spatial information: The relative efficiency of different methods of presenting information about bus routes. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 651, 103–110.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bornstein, R.F. (1989). Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research, 1968-1987. Psychological Bulletin, 1061, 265–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boston Globe (2013). MBTA map-making contest garners 17,000 votes. http:// [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Bronzaft, A.L., & Dobrow, S.B. (1984). Improving transit information systems. Journal of Environmental Systems, 131, 365–376. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bronzaft, A.L., Dobrow, S.B., & O’Hanlon, T.J. (1976). Spatial orientation in a subway system. Environment & Behavior, 81, 575–594. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burch, M., Kurzhals, K., Raschke, M., Blascheck, T., & Weiskopf, D. (2014). How do people read metro maps? An eye tracking study. Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014, University of Essex, April. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Carpenter, P.A. Just, M.A., and Shell, P. (1990). What one intelligence test measures: A theoretical account of the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices test. Psychological Review, 971, 404–431. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chabris, C., & Simons, D. (2010). The invisible gorilla. New York: Crown Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chi, M.T.H., Feltovich, P.J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science, 51, 121–152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creative Review (2013). A circular subway map for NYC. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Die Welt (2013). Ein Psychologe macht S- und U-Bahn Pläne rund. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Die Zeit (2013). Menschen mögen Muster. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015].
Dow, A. (2005). Telling the passenger where to get off. Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fink, M., Lechner, M., & Wolff, A. (2014). Concentric metro maps. Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014, University of Essex, April. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Garland, K. (1994). Mr Beck’s Underground map. Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gothamist (2013). New NYC subway map elegantly inspired by concentric circles. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Guo, Z. (2011). Mind the map! The impact of transit maps on travel decisions in public transit. Transportation Research Part A, 451, 625–639.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guo, Z., & Wilson, N.H.M. (2011). Assessing the cost of transfer inconvenience in public transport systems: A case study of the London Underground. Transportation Research Part A, 451, 91–104.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ITV News (2013). New London tube map goes round in circles. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 771, 1121–1134. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leder, H., Tinio, P.P.L., & Bar, M. (2011). Emotional valence modulates the preference for curved objects. Perception, 401, 649–655. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meo, M., Roberts, M.J. & Marucci, F.S. (2007). Element salience as a predictor of item difficulty for Raven’s Progressive Matrices. Intelligence, 351, 359–368. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Metro (2013). New version of London Underground map shows circles are the war forward. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015].
Newton, E.J., & Roberts, M.J. (2009). Applying cognitive psychology principles to Underground map design. Poster presented at London South Bank University research day, July.
Nöllenburg, M. (2014). A survey on automated metro map layout methods. Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014, University of Essex, April. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Nöllenburg, M., & Wolff, A. (2011). Drawing and labeling high-quality metro maps by mixed-integer programming. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 171, 626–641. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ovenden, M. (2003). Metro maps of the world (1st ed). Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2005). Metro maps of the world (2nd ed). Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2007). Transit maps of the world. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). Paris Metro style in map and station design. Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2015). Transit maps of the world (2nd ed). New York: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Palmer, S.E., Schloss, K.B., & Sammartino, J. (2013). Visual aesthetics and human preference. Annual Review of Psychology, 641, 77–107. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Primi, R. (2002). Complexity of geometric inductive reasoning tasks, contribution to the understanding of fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 301, 41−70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, M.J. (2005). Underground maps after Beck. Harrow Weald, UK: Capital Transport Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2012). Underground maps unravelled, explorations in information design. Wivenhoe, UK: Published by the author.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2014a). Schematic maps in the laboratory. Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014, University of Essex, April. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
. (2014b). What’s your theory of effective schematic map design? Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014, University of Essex, April. [URL] [accessed 20/11/2015]
Roberts, M.J., Newton, E.J., Lagattolla, F.D., Hughes, S., & Hasler, M.C. (2013). Objective versus subjective measures of Paris Metro map usability: Investigating traditional octolinear versus all-curves schematic maps. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 711, 363–386. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, M.J., Welfare, H., Livermore, D.P. & Theadom, A.M. (2000). Context, visual salience, and inductive reasoning, Thinking and Reasoning, 61, 349–374. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosenholtz, R. (2011). What your visual system sees when you are not looking. Proceedings of the SPIE: Human vision and electronic imaging, XVI, San Francisco, California.
Silvia, P.J., & Barona, C.M. (2009). Do people prefer curved objects? Angularity, expertise, and aesthetic preference. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 271, 25–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stott, J.M., Rodgers, P.J., Martinez-Ovando, J.C., & Walker, S.G. (2011). Automatic metro map layout using multicriteria optimization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 171, 101–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vertesi, J. (2008). Mind the Gap: The London Underground map and users’ representations of urban space. Social Studies of Science, 381, 7–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vodegel Matzen, L.B., Van der Molen, M.W., & Dudink, A.C. (1994). Error analysis of Raven test performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 161, 433–445. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolff, A. (2007). Drawing subway maps: A survey. Informatik, 221, 23–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (10)

Cited by ten other publications

Chan, Ho‐Yin, Yingying Xu, Anthony Chen, Xintao Liu & Kason Ka Ching Cheung
2023. Drawing metro maps in concentric circles: A designer‐in‐the‐loop approach with visual examples. Transactions in GIS 27:3 ► pp. 703 ff. DOI logo
Roberts, Maxwell J.
2023. Objective and Subjective Methods for Evaluating the Usability of Schematic Maps: The Case Against Informal Expert Assessments. The Cartographic Journal 60:4 ► pp. 308 ff. DOI logo
Batik, T., S. Terziadis, Y.‐S. Wang, M. Nöllenburg & H.‐Y. Wu
2022. Shape‐Guided Mixed Metro Map Layout. Computer Graphics Forum 41:7 ► pp. 495 ff. DOI logo
Xu, Yingying, Ho-Yin Chan & Anthony Chen
2022. Automated generation of concentric circles metro maps using mixed-integer optimization. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 36:12 ► pp. 2386 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Hsiang‐Yun, Benjamin Niedermann, Shigeo Takahashi, Maxwell J. Roberts & Martin Nöllenburg
2020. A Survey on Transit Map Layout – from Design, Machine, and Human Perspectives. Computer Graphics Forum 39:3 ► pp. 619 ff. DOI logo
Lana, Ibai, Esther Villar-Rodriguez, Urtats Etxegarai, Izaskun Oregi & Javier Del Ser
2019. 2019 IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC), ► pp. 1922 ff. DOI logo
Szabo, Peter & Bela Genge
2019. 2019 7th International Symposium on Digital Forensics and Security (ISDFS), ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Lloyd, Peter B., Peter Rodgers & Maxwell J. Roberts
2018. Metro Map Colour-Coding: Effect on Usability in Route Tracing. In Diagrammatic Representation and Inference [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 10871], ► pp. 411 ff. DOI logo
Saidi, Saeid, S. C. Wirasinghe, Lina Kattan & Seyedshahab Esmaeilnejad
2017. A generalized framework for complex urban rail transit network analysis. Transportmetrica A: Transport Science 13:10 ► pp. 874 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2023. Beck at 90. The Cartographic Journal 60:4 ► pp. 264 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue