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Riding Between the Lines

An article in the Seattle Weekly bemoans the difficulty of finding a map that shows the city's bus routes overlaid on a comprehensive street grid. ...

bus.jpgAn article in the Seattle Weekly bemoans the difficulty of finding a map that shows the city's bus routes overlaid on a comprehensive street grid. A spokesperson for King County Metro Transit Agency told writer Jonathan Kauffman, "You're the first person to ever ask for a map like that." The difficulty, according to Metro, is "trying to squeeze that much information into a single map that doesn't confuse people."

Nevertheless, Kauffman notes that Portland, Vancouver, New York, Chicago and San Francisco have managed this feat. So is Seattle the exception or the rule? Inquiring minds on the 13th Floor want to know: Which cities' bus maps are truly useful and which public transit agencies seem, as Kauffman says, "befuddled by my befuddlement"?

Anne Jordan was a contributing editor to GOVERNING.