As I just said, there’s some things on Discord servers which are worth putting on a website. Other people don’t seem to believe me when I say this for some reason.
The thing today is a mapmaking competition running on the aforementioned GTIC discord. The city was chosen in a poll a few days ago and it turned out to be Porto, which has solicited quite a lot of interest. As I am the person running this one, I am the one who has to write an announcement about it, and, as much as Discord’s Markdown abilities are quite good, for some reason I felt more like using Wordpress’ post editor today. Might as well give the announcement a more permanent record and broader publicity while I am at it.
Overview
So what is it? This is an announcement for a competition to create an integrated transit map of the region of the city of Porto in northern Portugal. The city was on the poll for its transit network is quite varied and complex enough to be interesting but is not overwhelming, and we believe this should make it suitable for all levels of mapmaking. Requirements aren’t being set too strict to cater to this as well. After the maps are submitted, they will be evaluated using bracket polling on the Discord server itself, though given that I am putting this announcement on a website I think one will also have the option of opting out of the bracket if one does not use Discord.1
- What? A transit map of Porto made by the user as a static graphic.
- When? Tentative deadline is August 1st, I think this announcement will formalise it but it could be pushed back depending on engagement.
- How? Send it to me using a method that allows me to be able to respond. Discord DMs are probably the default but if you have other ways, sure.
Transit in Porto
This is a list of transit services in Porto which should be considered to put on the map. Underlines are required, normal text is recommended, italics are entirely optional.
Porto Metro
- Lines A through F2
- Line Bx
- Lines G and H (u/c)
- Line C extension to Muro (u/c)
Tram and BRT
- Heritage tram lines 1, 18, 223
- Metrobus (Música – Império, Música – Anémona) (u/c)
Mainline Rail
By marking those as required, I mean that they should be represented as lines and not as mere icons, however, if they are represented as one consolidated line rather than separate, this is fine. Additionally, it is not recommended to draw these lines in their entirety, as they go a significant distance out of the city.
- Aveiro line
- Leixões (Leça do Balio) line
- Braga line
- Guimarães line
- Marco de Canaveses line
- Vouga line
Other
- Ribeira funicular
- Gaia cable car
Miscellaneous
- The Atlantic
- Douro River
- Ave River
- Fare zone boundaries
Resources
- CP timetables4
- Mapping Services:
- Google Maps
- Openstreetmap
- Openrailwaymap5
- Quick overlay of the network on Google Earth
- Porto Metro
- Wikipedia
It’s a bit odd posting this right after asking people for feedback about whether posting things like this is something they want. I can probably take this off the website if I mainly receive negative feedback on the previous post, but when I said “lighter stuff”, it might look like my opinion regarding the resulting maps…
Anyway, good luck if you choose to participate!