By: Julia Rowe

Tired of trying to make sense of Muni’s confusing and sometimes frustrating bus and metro map? As part of the new “Muni Forward Project” Muni is rolling out a “new polished map” over the next nine months.

Two volunteer cartographers spent ten years improving Muni’s map. Long gone will be the labyrinth of rainbow squiggles, mysterious boxes and dotted lines. The new map utilizes sophisticated cartography techniques to ease finding services near you. Different colors, thickness of lines and text size make it easy to see line route frequency, limited-stops, express bus and rail line services.

As part of the “Muni Transit Effectiveness Project” we can expect to see route changes and speed upgrades to come soon. Julie Kirschbaum, Muni’s operations planning and scheduling manager, said Muni is also considering changing some route names to better reflect the streets the serve. While Muni makes these updated we’ll have to wait for the new map. But keep an eye out – by May 1, 2015 most transit shelters will bear the new map. The new map brings promise to make Muni more convenient for new, visiting and long-time travelers alike.