The Metro Iloilo Integrated Public Transit Map
A map of integrated public transit routes, INCLUDING the First Town Commuters and the Airport Express. Jeepney and bus-majority maps are more challenging to map than subways and rail.
This has been pending and on shelf since 2019, along with the Greater Manila Transit Map that we created at that time. Creating this has become my past time away from routine checking, grading, and researching. Much as like a painting during a busy streak of days.
Unlike trams and trains, jeepney and bus routes are far more complicated as it involves multiple turns, areas, and hubs. The challenge of creating a transit map in the Philippines is that as passengers we have grown accustomed to hailing and unloading anywhere and not on designated bus or jeepney stops most of the time. Aside from that, frequent trip cuts, changes in policies of local governments.
About Creating Transit Maps and How to Apply them to Iloilo’s Settings
Transit maps' purpose is to visualize the network like that of a chip or motherboard. Each node (hubs) is connected to points (stops and/or landmarks). How passengers can get from Point A to Point B. The accuracy of scale only matters a bit. In addition, since Iloilo City is no island, we have posted the links of terminals for intra and inter-provincial routes, the ports, and the airport. Relationships and connections matter.
The place names of hubs are also important since spatial memory and placemaking has given identity to the bus or jeepney stop. For example, even if you call it "UPV," locals call it "Stoplight." Arroyo Fountain would be a better name, but people are more used to "Atrium" or "Capitol."
Landmarks and place names, instead of street names, were placed as stops. Kay amo ni ang kinaadnan sang tanan. We have also placed some of Iloilo's prominent landmarks such as Calle Real, Molo Church, and Jaro Cathedral. Aside from this, universities and tertiary education institutions were indicated as well. This serves as queues of location.
We've drawn inspiration from Singapore's System Map, some of Germany's transit maps, and Spider Maps of London. The sea and water feature are colored such as it is a dedication to Iloilo Strait's turquoise blue waters.
Imageability in mental mapping reflect David Lynch’s “The Image of a City” in which he attributes it with images associated with a place. Visual environment of a city is composed of paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks which serves as queues of a city or place’s identity. Paths denote roads, or in this case the route of public transport. Nodes refer to the convergence points such as plazas and transport hubs. Landmarks are pointed references. All of these have been considered in making transit maps—taking queues on the known landmarks and local names. (Lynch, 1960) Imageability gives familiarity to the passengers and commuters, especially when mapping transit systems. People are familiar with local names and stops, rather than street stops.
Numerical Routes Replace Traditional Place Names
Since Route Numbers will be the new norm, it is normal that people will get confused. However, this would have been minimized IF transit maps and effective communication through clear publication materials were released. Route numbers should have been gradually introduced. Route names on the other hand should have been as simple and direct as possible. Hence, we deviated a bit from the official names posted for better communication.
Aside from that, we have retained
some names of the routes since taking it away suddenly provides confusion.
Villa Mohon should not be replaced quickly with Line/Route 09, or
"Mohon-Infante." Retain some of its old names and gradually move on
from there.
Lastly, the importance of local language. Though it is primarily written in English, Hiligaynon is clearly stated along with it. Buligi ko palihug kon paano ipaathag sing klaro sa Hiligaynon ini.
We hope that even through this, we can help alleviate a bit of confusion to our fellow kasimanwas. Amo na ni guro pwede niyo dal-on sa mga cellphone niyo, pwede niyo man iprint (kinahanglan coloured para mas makit-an), or basahon sa inyo nga computer antes kamo magsakay bwas aga.
Suburban Commuter Transport is Integral to City’s Growth and Livability Too
My call for integration of Commuter Transport from the "First Towns" remains standing. In this time of rising petroleum prices, ang rationalization nga ini tani mas makabulig sa pumuluyo indi lang sang syudad kundi ang mga tupad nga banwa nga siya nagasuporta sa tagsa-tagsa nga ekonomiya kag pangabuhi. Let us retain the livability of Metro Iloilo and do not follow the path of what has happened to Greater Manila Area. This isn’t 19th century Philippines wherein the “taga-loob” or town dwellers discriminate those who came from the barrios, or “taga-labas” duality.
Para sa tanan nga Ilonggo
commuter nga naapektuhan sang bag-o nga mga ruta sa nag-agi nga semana, amo ni
kontani ang mabulig namon agud bisan sa gamay nga pamaagi nga masarangan namon,
makabulig sa paghilway sang pamensaron kag eksperiyensya bilang komyuter sang
kabisera sang Bisayas Nakatundan.
I guess this is subtle counter-mapping.
You can download the maps here,
available in both jpg and PDF format (4-5MB size). Facebook tends to lower the
image resolution, so we posted the link below for everyone's benefit.
Works Cited
Lynch, K. (1960). Image of the City. The MIT Press.