The Columbia Bay Transit Authority
"Man, okay, so like they got this like subway system, but it's like not underground, it's all like above ground. So it's not really a sub-way, okay, it's like an above-way. But like the people don't call it that 'cause they that sounds all weird, so they call it like the Ways, excepts it means tram-ways which is like not like above or below, you know? And they've got like this giagunto building where all the ways come together in one place, except it's like all huge and stuff and has like taxis and cars and trains and all like that. It's like huge, you know? Oh! Oh! And like it's it's like a big clock and and stuff. Like all the like way-thingys, they go out like one o'clock, two o'clock, but not like the time you know. Like the numbers. The clock numbers you know, like this is twelve o'clock here and like over here is 3 o'clock, but the tram-thingys leave all the time. So like, you get on like , I dunno, like the 5 at 3 and that's like the tram that like goes this way but leaves at like 3 o'clock and goes over there somewhere? Or maybe that's like the 3 at 5. No, no, it's the 5 at like 3. See? It's simple. I've been like in here all day. "
-Overheard response of one unknown tourist when asked by another how to find the airport.
About this Image: Bryce 4.01; Photoshop 4.0. This was a difficult image in just about every dimension. First was finding time to do it, which surprisingly only took a week despite a lot of work travel.. Harder was designing the building. I wanted to combine a little of the grand scale of Greco-Roman architecture with the Deco-Modernist theme in Metropolis. I knew, functionally, what the building was supposed to do, i.e. be the (literal) focal point of the city's transportation system and I have used the elevated tramway system in a number of the other images (M2K, 4:32 AM, Hero, Team Practice). The clock theme for naming and positioning the Ways I decided way back in M2K (in the deep background is my first inkling of the CBTA with lots of Ways coming off it. No way to retcon that now. Oh well, artistic license!) Also, I wanted to touch lightly back to the film, and in one version of the film poster there is a huge cylindrical building which dominates the skyline as it towers over elevated highways. I wanted to incorporate the elements of the image without stealing directly. Finally, I had to decide on a color pallet. I decided on the standard Metropolis Grey as usual, but it seemed too stark. I also thought the CBTA building evoked a little of the Statue of Liberty, so I incorporated the rain-stained copper and torch gold into the top of the building and the Annex (to the left of the Central building with the copper dome). I also used a Volumetric render, one of the very few I've ever tried. The building in the foreground is the City Registry and Archive. It's actually larger than it appears here, in the full Futurist style (last seen in MP&L), but several elements, including cooling spines and power lines are off screen. They distracted from the overall visual structure of the image. As I mentioned earlier, the building's placement in the city was problematic, but eventually solved, not too far from where it appears on the current map. Mt. Hood is visible in the background.
One error I need to retcon. In Team Practice the Mayor states that the stadium is on the 10, or the tramway which intersects the building at the 10 o'clock position. It's really on the 1 since the 12 is due north.
Sorry about the text, I don't know exactly what like came over me.
