Redesigning Oslo's transit diagram

In 2017, I made an unofficial transit diagram covering the Oslo region in Norway. Now, five years later, it’s time for a revisit. Let’s take a look at what can be improved and the process of creating a new transit diagram.
SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro.
VIEW PDF:
t2design.no/oslo-transit-diag...
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This is my 203rd KZbin video of all-time and the 6th video in 2022.

[@leosklein575]

As a colorblind person who often mixes up grey and pink, I appreciate that color change

[@Oktobermedia]

I appreciate the effort too. I have "mild" red-green color blindness. You also have to take into account real life lightning, as in actually standing in a station looking at a map. If possible, I don't think color should be involved at all. But on the other hand, I'm not sure what could replace it.

[@keanu_]

I actually asked myself this question: How would a colour-blind person find this and then I saw this comment. Great :D

[@The-Cat]

As a non colorblind person who never mixes up pink and grey, I appreciate that color change

[@edstructor666]

@@Oktobermedia the tokyo metro deals with this perfectly with major staion in each line having a letter asociated with each line. this is most likely due to the fact that with that many lines even for people without colorblindness it becomes hard to name all tha colors. i have red green color blindness and found this really usefull

[@sonozaki0000]

@@edstructor666 the Los Angeles Metro recently changed their colored lines to lettered lines too!

[@noyaV_]

The most striking thing out of the redesign is how easy on the eyes it is despite its complexity. 100/100

[@rebel2809]

something the nyc subway can learn from for sure

[@strawwagen]

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[@triforium_t]

Greetings from a fellow transit enthusiast and Norwegian! Let me start off by expressing how impressed I am by your skills and creativity in transit diagram design. It is truly enthusiasts and clever people like yourself we have to thank for spreading knowledge and interest about transit to the common man, and for pushing transit officials to go above and beyond in their planning and design. Your recent design is without a doubt an improvement from your last one. Nonetheless, I would like to understand the reasoning behind your choice of combining these specific three modes of transport in your comprehensive diagram. At first glance, the obvious answer to that question would be that these three modes are all running on rails. However, I would argue that that is the only similarity between these modes of transport - at least when it comes to Oslo. The regional Vy trains (the R trains) run to towns and cities, which are for, all practical purposes, outside the Oslo area - strictly speaking. Their main role is not to carry commuters on a daily basis into and through the city; there are after all not many people commuting to Oslo from Skien and Göteborg (in Sweden!) on a daily basis. The local Vy trains (the L trains) and the outer parts of the Ruter metro lines share, in my view, the role of being the city area's rapid transit system (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_transit) - brining daily commuters from suburbs and nearby towns and villages. In my opinion, the inner parts of the metro (as well as a small part of the central local train service on L1, L2, L3 and L21) share roles with the trams and city buses in functioning as the frequent and reliable network of transport for the city's inhabitants, consisting of lines and branches of lines with a multitude of stops close together. They serve an entirely different different purpose than the trains and outer parts of the metro, in my view. In reality the trams in Oslo function merely as buses on rails - which brings me to the buses of the Oslo area. It's not difficult to understand why you have omitted the bus lines from your comprehensive diagram, as the official bus diagram already is a spaghetti mess on its own (ruter.no/globalassets/rutetabeller/buss-oslo/linjekart/buss-oslo-linjekart-08082022.pdf). That is because Oslo's bus service, both the regional one but especially the city bus system, is really extensive in size, as well as frequency, as well as coverage. Many people tend to regard the metro as the backbone of the Oslo transit system. But when looking at number of yearly journeys, the importance of the buses in Oslo can't be understated. In 2019 (the last year with statistics not affected by the pandemic) the number of total bus journeys reached 180 million - of which 115 million were made by city bus and 65 million were made by regional bus (aarsrapport2021.ruter.no/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/02/NOKKELTALL-til-a%CC%8Arsrapport-2021.xlsx). Compare that to the metro's number of journeys of the same year at 119 million, the tram's at 53 million, and the train's at only 42,2 million, a safe conclusion can be drawn: The transit system of Oslo would collapse without the bus. The bus digression aside, my argument is not that you should combine all these four modes of transit into one - I think that would be an impossible task. My argument is that it would make more sense to design a diagram combining bus, trams and metro lines into one (and maybe even include the ferries and boats). Oslo needs a comprehensive _city_ diagram where all these three modes of transport are combined - buses, trams and central parts of the metro. These three serve different geographical areas of the city, and when travelling from one part of the city to the other - even for shorter distances - one often has to change between the three. A proper city transit diagram combining these quite similar modes would help locals, commuters and tourists alike. If you are commuting from say Moss or Gjøvik (two separate cities/towns), I'd argue that the need for one single diagram combining local trains (L trains), which run for over 100 kilometres, with tram lines, which run for only up to 20 kilometres, is not present. If I were a long-distance commuter, I'd be much more comfortable with using one diagram for the local trains and the outer parts of the metro to help me get into the city centre (especially regarding Oslo only having one large train station), and then turing to a comprehensive city diagram combining the buses, trams and central metro lines. A commuter's journey to a specific part of the city could then be mentally divided into two parts: The first one would focus on getting from a suburb, village or town into the city, and the second one would focus on figuring out which city bus, tram or metro to take in order to get to the desired part of the city. Seeing as Oslo city has such a developed bus, tram and inner metro service, with great coverage, loads of stops and high frequency, there is rarely a need to walk more than 200 metres at the most, regardless of where your destination is within the city centre. This is a great feature in a modern city and is one that is deserving diagrams which make the system accessible to all. That is the reason why I think two separate diagrams, where one is regional and one is a comprehensive city based one, is favourable over your current design. I want to stress once again how impressive I find your skills and creativity in redesigning transit diagrams to be, and also that the diagram in this video already is accessible, functional and all together great. The reason behind my very lengthy comment is merely some ~constructive critique~ (as is the official phrase in proper Norwegian) and maybe to challenge your exceptional skills into creating something even more comprehensive and impressive. There would clearly be some challenges in creating my suggested city diagram combining the buses, trams and central metro. As well as the extensive city bus service, Ruter also has quite a large-scale regional bus service, serving the local areas around the suburban hubs and towns, which themselves are served by the outer metro and local train lines. Seeing as a number of these regional bus services call at a multitude of stops both inside and outside Oslo proper, this would require some creative design and sacrifice of accuracy, no doubt. Yet again, this was a great video and a great design! I hope my critique is welcomed and I wish you all the best with your upcoming designs and projects. Maybe we'll see an updated version (or versions in plural form!) of this diagram in the future. ;) Cheers, Tord

[@T2norway]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Tord! I totally agree with the idea of having two separate maps. One for travelling to the city, and one for navigating within the city. I have actually been thinking of making a more geographically-oriented map of Oslo, with buses (and ferries?) included. Here, it would be natural to include more details such as boroughs, rivers and maybe even landmarks, making it easier to navigate. This is a huge task though, so I might need to practice a bit before I start untangling the spaghetti monster. Regarding the regional trains, I included them because they kinda function as local trains between Lysaker and Oslo S. And between Asker-Oslo S-Lillestrøm, they supplement and provide a high-frequency service resulting in trains running every 10 minutes. I don’t think that should go unnoticed. The only similarity between these modes of transport are, as you mentioned, that they all run on rails. I’m not yet at the skill level where I can add complex bus routes, hence why it was easier for me to ‘redesign’ three existing line diagrams. Hopefully I’ll succeed with an updated version in the future. One for trains/metro and one for the city itself. PS: Ruter has previously made a diagram including main bus routes, metro, tram and some ferries. But it’s not easy to find online: ontheworldmap.com/norway/city/oslo/central-oslo-transport-map.jpg It’s not even listed on their official website. It only shows key stations and is clearly targeted towards tourists. It doesn’t include train lines, which I dislike, as they are still an important part of the public transportation in Oslo. The following example is not relevant for a tourist, but my point is that trains can sometimes be much faster than the metro and must not be forgotten: Going to Bryn from Oslo S? Taking the L1 train takes just 3 minutes, with a frequency of 15 min. The metro takes 9 min, but with higher frequency. (I’m aware that Brynseng and Bryn are far away from each other in my diagram, ideally they should have a connection indicator).

[@LeZylox]

I love this comment, It exactly describes the Transit diagrams in my home region of zurich!

[@Mastakilla91]

@@T2norway Say what graphic tool did you use for designing this diagram?

[@x3nstudios]

@@Mastakilla91 Well it was mentioned in the video and in the description, Adobe Illustrator

[@iamsamarg]

Love the subtle shade thrown at the London Tube map’s zones. I’m always impressed by TfL’s ability to make a coherent map at all, especially on the London’s Rail & Tube Services map (the National Rail map), it’s the epitome of a spaghetti map

[@artsed08]

Just smacked of Anglophobia to me.

[@epica2133]

The problem is there's too much information shown. Sure its nice to know where the nearest IKEA is but do we really need it on a map?

[@MrFrozenTux]

This looks so good, and the editing is on point too. Living in a city that butchered its transit map to add regional services, I’m very appreciative of the effort you put in to keep the line colors while differentiating modes.

[@bonetiredtoo]

I love it that nearly 90 years on, it is still a recognisable derivative of Harry Beck's London Underground map!

[@hei1]

You are probably the most underrated KZbinr ever

[@iji]

agreed

[@GamingNachos]

You really have a talent in diagram illustration! Ruter should pay you a fortune for this design, i’ve always missed a complete map showing all rail transport in oslo!

[@MoustiluigiRandom]

Incredible.

[@no-name6387]

Wow. Loving the super clean editing, clear explanations and of course the map. This is exactly why I subscribed! I really hope the YT algorithm sways in your favor one day.

[@ericdanielski4802]

Absolutely.

[@bobertfw]

Super Gracias for doing this in English. I love what you do and appreciate that you expand the knowledge of transit systems for those who come from transit neglected areas like Dallas

[@hagen1555]

You know good design when you see it. This is just beautiful, great job!

[@eljestLiv]

I was in Oslo today and I used your map to get around. Thanks a lot, great work, I love the design!

[@Shanto12]

As a person from Oslo this would blow my mind😲

[@fardin.s_ali]

You should send this in as a suggestion to Ruter, if you have the possibility to do so. I've lived here my whole life and I've never been a fan of the transit diagrams they use (except for the T-bane-diagram). Your redesign is a huge improvement to the original diagrams, and I'd love to see it being used!

[@adamcoppock5018]

It's great to see the design thinking with a focus on execution & craft!

[@jofresivilla4466]

This is a great and very clean diagram, hardly at all overloaded. Easy to understand, but at the same time preserving all the complexity of the network. I always like to see diagrams with many, many lines, that you almost get lost with so many lines (including city bus diagrams, which is even crazier) but at the same time trying to be as minimally cluttered as possible. Maybe the only thing I would say is to reduce the spacing between the lines when they are close together as you end up with a line thickness that ends up being a bit too thick. For the rest, it is very good.

[@kristineflunes7024]

Wow, as a norwegian who uses this system every day, I really like it! You did an incredible job :D Love how all rail lines are represented together, in one map. I'll save the PDF and share it.

[@SlanderMonkey]

i love all your videos, thanks for the continued uploads

[@SimonS44]

Such a great video, love to see your process! I also dabble in transit map design and it's so cool to see you tackling the same questions and the thought process in answering them :)

[@sn4cks]

Beautiful animations, sound design, and great work on the diagram!

[@jakob2119]

Loving this! 🙌

[@enricojanssen1709]

This is so beautiful

[@jonasls]

Looks amazing!

[@michellelee1465]

This is so fantastic! So much appreciation for what you have done.

[@JulianDalat-rm6pn]

Beautiful

[@beregu]

Wow. Excellent work.

[@norm1124]

Looks so lovely

[@user-ie3jq3gt1l]

this is fantastic!

[@fuzzylon]

Thanks for a great video! It's fascinating to hear your thought processes about all these design choices and attention to detail that so many passengers don't consciously notice.

[@nelsonlin4725]

This is soooo cool! Good work!

[@TamagoRails]

Nice presentation and map! I initially found you through your Acacia Line video way back then, and found this later in my recommended. Perfect video to point me in the right direction for map design, and am excited to implement it in the future :D Thanks for sharing your work online for free for others to learn from.

[@travistester5232]

This was fantastic

[@Notester82]

Meeeeeeeep, I've always liked how transit maps looked and it's dope to see all of the care that goes into making one that both looks clean and functions cleanly, nicely done! :D

[@catva]

always a great day when t2norway uploads :)

[@chaoskai9380]

Looks absolutely beautiful

[@almerakbar]

This is really well done!

[@hectorcabedouso5781]

Great work and explanation. THANK YOU VERY MUCH

[@gabrielvarig]

So satisfying to watch. Great video. And great map, too. Kudos!

[@totomop3797]

love the design topic! Please more

[@edificity]

Fantastic video, the finished diagram looks amazing and I really appreciate how thoroughly you explained your rationale behind every decision

[@BAMB00STER4EVER]

I will definitely pay more attention to our bus stop diagrams tomorrow. It looks confusing at first glance so never used it, but maybe it's actually logical.

[@misterhoeflak]

Lovely work! Very elegant solutions.

[@riyuzu2674]

I absolutely love this video! as an graphic designer myself I am amazed by how much detail and work you have put into this map and video! great job, would love to see more :))

[@whitenat]

I do believe geographical accuracy is very important in a transport diagram: I prefer to know where I’m going than to have a slightly more readable map. My best example would be the Paris Metro diagram

[@jxn4sw]

I'm going to Oslo this summer, so I think that should help. Thanks for this clean map and your work!

[@PiotrekPomorski]

Amazing work! I like the original design, I really liked your re-design and I love the new version! You've earned a subscriber, looking forward to more of your work.

[@java_siege_]

Your editing is amazing.

[@trip.8827]

I'm scared of how clean and easy is this map!!! Great job. Should get more views

[@ekatein3921]

Trai maps have always been very interesting how much information it can convey with such little effort. A few years back an artist combined all of the worlds subway maps together into one image and I have a 4'x4' poster of it from them one of my favorites

[@RodrigoLobosChile]

Wow!. really impressive

[@FerEssence]

Yesss watching this brought back some good memories in Oslo!

[@swaree]

very clean, I dig it also taking inspiration from Jug Cerovic was a plus

[@lennartuecker]

Wow I‘m literally amazed! I visited Oslo this summer and I really liked the public transport service there. Combined with my big interests in maps and graphic design, this is probably one of the greatest projects I saw on KZbin so far.

[@sebbivism]

woow i really liked it!

[@alphanutku]

I need to do that for Istanbul. You gave me a great idea dude. Thanks!

[@valgardurhalldorsson4006]

Lovely, clean beautiful lines and in my opinion as a part time user easily understandable, thank you.

[@muftiharits]

OMG I wish I had found this channel sooner! I’m so into transit maps focusing on clarity than clutter. Many tries have been made to fix my city Jakarta’s transit map, but it’s still a long way to go.

[@htimsid]

Very nice video, very nice result. Hold opp det gode arbeidet!

[@HomeAutoBuddy]

This is a masterpiece, easy-going and explanation why and how. Making complicated things easy to understand is hard but you did it easy

[@antianime-pfp3291]

as a person looking to major in Digital Media Art, this video was so inspiring!!

[@obviouslyninnus]

Yeah I'm going to use this from now on, it's super handy. The zone markers is so good

[@The4905]

Thank you! I'm inspired now to make my own fantasy maps!

[@sonicsupersam7793]

So I suck at transport stuff, but I love graphic design, and I also do a bit of pcb design. Seeing all these lines all nice together just like the traces of a PCB is very satisfying to me.

[@YusriRilke]

This is so good, definitely deserves a booyah back

[@chriz7074]

It’s a fantastic design! 😊

[@SaplinGuy]

Love this! The colors REALLY helped making it more readable to me (grown up in Oslo), and the airport line coloring was also an excellent choice! Many years back I thought about how cool it would be with a map combining all of the transports, and this is really close to that! What would be really cool (though of course way too messy), would be if the boat and bus lines were also included, so you get a real understanding of how connected the region actually is!

[@rebel2809]

whenever i look at the nyc subway's map, i get a headache. whenever i see this map, my headache goes away

[@lubo]

Nice work.

[@comedeveze3383]

Your work on this map is just amazing !! I think if you want to do another challenge like this, you could try Paris, it's a bit more complicated I think (some much line we get lost easily). Love what you're doing! Continue!

[@Felix-nz7lq]

If there’s one thing I’d add is that the (the old at least) train maps used to have greyed arrows showing cities outside the region. So an arrow to Trondheim from Lillehammer and Stockholm from Kongsvinger etc. Otherwise this is pretty neat

[@cmilkau]

Wow, that's really easy on the eyes, and the whole network is in there! This should becone the official map!

[@stevanadika8170]

Really appreciate your job, and warm greetings from Indonesia ☺

[@musiqtee]

Just fantastic! Your channel was new to me, public transport (maps) in Norway just didn’t push the algorithm as much as the UK or Germany (or even Sweden/Denmark). Years back, I (only just) tried to create a map for Nedre Glomma. Let’s just say that ØKT (regional transport authority) weren’t too excited and helpful with data. I lived in Oslo for 14 years, and also worked in London. So sure, Sarpsborg isn’t like any of those cities. However, I do think that the regional authorities are lagging seriously when it comes to catering for a bit of enthusiasm around public transport. Great that people like you contribute to that enthusiasm! Good maps create better awareness - and more pragmatic users won over! 👍

[@YaruSasaki]

Wow thanks a lot for this video. Actually I have been trying something similar for my hometown Cologne many years ago with pretty much zero knowledge about design or design software. Seeing this makes me wanna pick up and revamp my work from back then, I feel like there's so much more I can do, despite sharing many similarities (in ideas) with you. Great result!

[@mitchellattwood]

Viewer from Sydney. This was impressive. I’m glad you decided to stick to the thickness with trams vs trains. It makes sense coz it’s referred to as “light” rail

[@cubed.public]

I enjoyed this video so much I tried searching youtube for more videos like this My day was ruined when I couldn't find any nearly as good as this one...

[@oskar1504]

Great video

[@TechToby7]

The design is amazing, simplistic but informative. I would be great to see you re-design the London Underground map.

[@Aliquis.frigus]

@RMtransit should see this!

[@dutssz]

I love to see how complex and efficient public transport can be than look at my city with a singular straight train line

[@InTeCredo]

This video ought to be part of the visual communication design classes! I enjoy looking at the transit maps and seeing how they approach the design process and how much information they could put together onto one design. Unfortunately, I have seen some maps that could be combined, might be better off being separated, or are in dire need of proper redesign. Munich managed to put together all five (express bus, tram, subway, commuter, and regional trains) onto one local map along with tariff zones. Tram lines and express bus lines are thinner than subway and commuter train lines. The regional trains are represented by blue and yellow stripes. The express bus lines have white and green stripes.

[@yazzindev]

I don't care at all about anything related to trains but this was just so well made, good job!

[@falkkiwiben]

As a swed who has many a time been confused by Oslo's commuter maps this really is an improvment! Reminds me of the huge commuter maps in Stockholm which include all services in the entire city on one map, although we don't have the same amount of tram lines so it might be a wee bit easier to design than Oslo's

[@qazzy2538]

I live in Melbourne, Australia and with the insane amount of trams we have designing a combined map would be very difficult...

[@felaykasu]

Great map! Super jealous about all the transit options your city has! I live in a similar sized city to Oslo and I'd be over the moon if we even had just one of your three modes of rail transport!

[@bullshitman155]

I love how Jernbanetorget takes up a quarter of the vertical space :)

[@trainenthusiast7695]

This diagram is very easy on the user which I like, and I would likely use a map like this when visiting oslo

[@K4ZA]

I didnt know Olso's transit system was so freaking huuuuuge. So many lines

[@MartieGG]

I'd love seeing this map on the stations, and it would be helpful for my mom :D

[@livablecity]

Beautiful! Thank you for making this video! I like collecting and making transit diagrams, but definitely not to your level of professionalism. This looks amazing. I was kinda sad that you gave up on the place names and other city features, because as a potential visitor to Olso who likes to travel around on public transport it would have helped me get acquainted with the structure of the city more easily.

[@janwilliameraker3349]

As someone who lives in the Oslo region and commutes to Drammen this is spectacular

[@belodie]

This is brilliant, both in terms of the explanation and the diagram itself. Makes me wonder what other cities' networks would be like with this design.

[@dubstebowl]

I personally love the geographical correct transit diagrams, my city has it this why, its easier to find the route form one point to another way easyer . but i also understand that in such a complex diagram its more important to still have the overview and also giving all the informations needed.

[@pfuente007]

Uffff, I can’t stress enough about how good this video is. The editing, the music, the timing, the brilliant design skills… please do more redesign videos like this😍

[@engineeredarmy1152]

Wow that's some work. I created India's HSR map for Wikipedia, thought it'd be quick and easy but boy it exhausted me, took me almost a week. I regret not watching your video first.

[@dhairyaplayz825]

I dont rlly know where oslo is or what a transit diagram is. But I somehow found the video satisfying and enjoyable. Well u say a designer's job is to convey a clear and logic design. And I would say u did a pretty damn good job.

[@arthure.petersenjr.8089]

Thanks.

[@junkailiang]

Great content! 好喜歡你的影片 要繼續加油喔！

[@1AngryPanda]

In my city trainlines are always just solid blacklines. And its only one line as long as different lines use the same stations until the tracks split up. To make a clear distinction between train and tram/bus.

[@tandem2003]

love that suprise appearance of one of the single player songs from splatoon 3 lol