Seems like our MRT map has some explaining to do, ’cause talented people have been taking it upon themselves to redesign it for reasons such as geographical accuracy, user-friendliness, and sweet aesthetics. A couple weeks ago, Cliff Tan went viral for his sleek version, even catching the attention of the Land Transport Authority, who gave him a shout-out on social media for his “rail-y good job.”
Days later, inspired by the hype buzzing over Tan’s revision, a netizen by the name of Faiz Basha uploaded his own work, opting for what he called “a more utilitarian, simplistic, and iterative design.” His alternative map “revolves around a circular orbital ‘circle line’ and conforms to many geometric principles and even spacing throughout.”
“‘No Unprovoked Turns’ was my mentality,” he added. “And with that, my final map could be quantitatively defined as the most simplistic MRT map out there with the lowest no. of turns in total.”
You can tell the amount of work that went into it, as he gave viewers a peek into his year-long process, complete with initial sketchings, detailed explanations, and stats on each line regarding the number of turns on different maps. It’s quite an impressive feat.
Dude was totally open to feedback as well, resurfacing a few days later to correct the mistakes that eagle-eyed individuals pointed out to him. There’s even a Google Drive containing high-res map redesigns for the current and future versions.
Props to this guy for his meticulous work.
