Atlanta

Atlanta is known the City in a Forest; while having nearly 50% tree cover has many benefits, it also can contribute to sprawl. In fact, Atlanta has the lowest population density of any of the 30 largest metro area in the U.S. Atlanta's metro system is fairly limited, consisting basically of two perpendicular main lines which intersect downtown. That said, it is also efficient: it has the lowest operating cost per passenger-mile of any rail system in the country. 

This expansion provides 4 new lines that go deep into the surrounding suburbs (of which there are many). Several run on rail routes that parallel the existing MARTA network, which I have used to introduce express/local service.

MARTA already provided great access to Atlanta's airport, and the expanded network also provides convenient access to the Atlanta's Amtrak station at Brookwood, plus Gainesville to the northeast. Of note, Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention also are served by two new lines.

Lines

• MARTA
• Red: 24 miles, 19 stations
  
• Gold: 22 miles, 18 stations
  
• Green: 6 miles, 9 stations
  
• Blue: 15 miles, 15 stations
  
• New Commuter Rail
• Pink: 70 miles, 24 stations
  
• Purple: 86 miles, 26 stations
  
• Brown: 84 miles, 26 stations
  
• Cyan: 67 miles, 25 stations

 

 

 

 

Cleveland

Cleveland is a city with single heavy rail transit line running miniature subway trains, plus two light rail lines. There is also a much-celebrated bus rapid transit along Euclid Avenue (not shown on this map). The existing network serves both Cleveland's Amtrak station (daily service to Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC) and the airport. This expanded network connects to a second airport and second Amtrak station, plus the neighboring cities of Akron and Canton.

Lines:

• Existing Metro
• Red (Subway): 19 miles, 18 stations
• Green (Light rail): 12 miles, 23 stations
• Blue (Light rail): 11 miles, 22 stations
• New Railway
• Orange: 28 miles, 9 stations
• Brown: 52 miles, 15 stations
• Grey: 23 miles, 8 stations
• Pink: 60 miles, 16 stations
• Purple: 18 miles, 7 stations
• Cyan: 26 miles, 11 stations
• Yellow: 27 miles, 9 stations

(Note: The "grey line" doesn't follow conventions set in the instructions -- it should be black, but that would have shown up too close to the brown & Navy lines.)

Wayfinding

Interested in directions from one stop on one to another in one of my fictional metro systems? Wondering how long it'd take you to get from Point A to Point B? Introducing wayfinding. This functionality lives in a macro-enabled spreadsheet in select maps (look for the Wayfinding tag). Select any two stations, and it will give you directions between them -- including transfers -- and calculate the total travel time. 

Movement assumptions:

• Trains move at 45 mph.
• Each station stop add 2 minutes to each travel segment.
• Each transfer adds a total of 8 minutes to the trip.

See below for an example from Madison, where travel from Ridgewood to the Fairgrounds takes 29 minutes and involves one transfer..

San Antonio

Texas's third-largest metro has existing no rapid transit. The current rail lines only skirt the outsides of the downtown area, so I've introduced a transit-way down Commerce St to connect the new commuter rail terminals. This new network provides access to the airport (via a shuttle) and the Amtrak station, with connections to El Paso, Dallas, and Houston. 

Lines

• Yellow (Transitway): 2 miles, 6 stations
• Brown: 36 miles, 19 stations
• Blue: 22 miles, 15 stations
• Magenta: 16 miles, 8 stations
• Green: 32 miles, 14 stations
  

Wayfinding available

Quad Cities

Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline in Illinois collectively make up the "Quad Cities" (yes, there are 5 cities). This proposed network of 4 lines connects them all, plus several outlying towns, including Clinton and Geneseo.

Lines:

• Blue: 47 miles, 13 stations
• Orange: 17 miles, 9 stations 
• Yellow: 29 miles, 13 stations
• Purple: 21 miles, 11 stations

 

Omaha

The largest city in Nebraska currently has a basic bus network and a single recently-added bus-rapid-transit line that constitutes "the most significant mass transit investment this region has seen in decades". So you can see there is quite some room for improvement. The proposed network includes 5 lines that serve the surrounding suburbs (including those in neighboring Iowa), the state capital at Lincoln, the Amtrak stations (service to Denver and Kansas City), and the waterfront. 

Lines

• Red: 29 miles, 12 stations
• Green: 36 miles, 12 stations
• Cyan: 6 miles, 5 stations
• Blue: 39 miles, 14 stations
• Purple: 66 miles, 23 stations

 

Kansas City

 Spanning two states, Kansas City is another one covered with train tracks. It does include an Amtrak station with service on two routes to St Louis, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but its rail transit is restricted to a recent light rail with shared right-of-way stretching from Union Station through downtown. This map uses those two endpoints as a jumping-off point to connect to five new lines. In order to show the line rail line along with the added commuter rail, the downtown area is stretched north-south. 

Lines

• Orange (light rail): 2 miles, 9 stations
• Red: 50 miles, 16 stations
• Cyan: 45 miles, 15 stations
• Yellow: 35 miles, 14 stations
• Green: 54 miles, 15 stations
• Purple: 52 miles, 26 stations