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Has anyone seen the new grey COTA bus paint job? If so, what's your opinion of the new design?
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Transportation
New COTA Bus Design
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CMHflyer
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Overall it's not bad, though it could be better. The new color scheme reminds me of Cleveland's RTA busses in its predominant use of silver. I assume they chose this as it reflects the sun better, therefore keeping the busses cooler and lowering costs, which is fine. I'm also glad that they kept the familiar red, white, and blue stripe, however now it's a grossly oversized ribbon expanding towards the back of the vehicle.
Posted 2 years ago # -
cbustransit
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It is sad how boring this design is. It is not iconic, it is not new or fresh, you couldn't look at that bus among 30 others and tell what city it is from. Some places are doing amazing things with buses such as color coding them by originating and terminating neighborhood. Other places give their buses distinctive colors to make them signify their city. We kept red, white and blue, added the statehouse, gave it a 90s makeover and called it rebranding. No one new is going to jump on the bus because it is silver. blah.
sorry. i just feel like there was missed opportunity to do something really forward thinking and progressive.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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I don't really think it's much better or worse than the old color scheme and design, which wasn't anything special to begin with.
I do think it could have been something a bit more innovative and attention getting, but at the same time I'm not sure what the measurable ridership increase would be for investing in a bolder design and likely hiring some sort of branding/marketing consulting firm for that type of work. Are people more/less interested in riding the bus depending on what color it is?
(PS: Added some photos up top from Facebook)
Posted 2 years ago # -
2thDoc
Downtown & Clintonville
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I assume they chose this as it reflects the sun better, therefore keeping the busses cooler and lowering costs, which is fine.
--don't forget that the gray/silver hides the diesel grime better too. They can save $ washing them now :)
It is sad how boring this design is. It is not iconic, it is not new or fresh, you couldn't look at that bus among 30 others and tell what city it is from. Some places are doing amazing things with buses such as color coding them by originating and terminating neighborhood. Other places give their buses distinctive colors to make them signify their city.
--Agree.
Posted 2 years ago # -
bastardsuperstar
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"unfortunate"
Posted 2 years ago # -
cbustransit
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Walker wrote >>
I don't really think it's much better or worse than the old color scheme and design, which wasn't anything special to begin with.
I do think it could have been something a bit more innovative and attention getting, but at the same time I'm not sure what the measurable ridership increase would be for investing in a bolder design and likely hiring some sort of branding/marketing consulting firm for that type of work. Are people more/less interested in riding the bus depending on what color it is?
(PS: Added some photos up top from Facebook)No its not really about the color, walker. Its about creating a design that grabs people and forces them to pay attention. That can get more ridership.
Even more, there are designs that actually make riding easier. Designs that actually explain the type of bus. In South Korea there was a bus system which codes neighborhoods by color so that you knew where the bus was going. There could have been something more interesting than taking the 1990s straight lines and making them wavy.
And this was part of a larger rebranding strategy. There are new sign posts coming out now too. And new ridership pamphlets. These could have all been redesigned in a new concept to make riding easier. And that boosts ridership.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown / Gay Street
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The trouble with having bus color coordinated with route means that buses can't be easily used on multiple routes causing fleet changes or temporary replacements to be hard to accomplish without a lot of extra paintjobs.
I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of the new color scheme. Just wondering if there are studies that can show how colors or designs affect ridership, because at the end of the day, that's the most important measurement of the effectiveness of a transit system, right?
Posted 2 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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Walker wrote >>
Are people more/less interested in riding the bus depending on what color it is?FWIW, I don't think so, but having a legible, simple to understand system does.
cbustransit wrote >>
No its not really about the color, walker. Its about creating a design that grabs people and forces them to pay attention. That can get more ridership.
Even more, there are designs that actually make riding easier. Designs that actually explain the type of bus. In South Korea there was a bus system which codes neighborhoods by color so that you knew where the bus was going. There could have been something more interesting than taking the 1990s straight lines and making them wavy.
And this was part of a larger rebranding strategy. There are new sign posts coming out now too. And new ridership pamphlets. These could have all been redesigned in a new concept to make riding easier. And that boosts ridership.I do agree though that a bolder color could probably grab attention, at least initially, and that would be good. The South Korea thing I think you're talking about is in Seoul and is described here. The bus colors are by type of route and the route numbering is by origin-destination. I would be interested in seeing different color buses for local versus express routes or something like that.
However, you end up sacrificing operational flexibility when you have to avoid running red express buses on a blue local line or something like that. Agencies generally like being able to use any bus in their fleet for any route if needed, especially if you don't have a lot of spare vehicles for peak travel times. If something breaks down and you only have the wrong-colored vehicle available, is that a big deal? I don't know that it is, but it's not ideal either.
Posted 2 years ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC, Vietnam ✈
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This isn't the best example, but all the buses here in Buenos Aires have unique paint jobs. Some are more spectacular than others. It's like that in most of South America. I doubt the paint jobs impact ridership one iota. The bus just happens to be the fastest way to get around.
Anyhow, it is kinda nice to see. This one is duller than most:
Posted 2 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Glenview, IL
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JonMyers wrote >>
This isn't the best example, but all the buses here in Buenos Aires have unique paint jobs. Some are more spectacular than others. It's like that in most of South America. I doubt the paint jobs impact ridership one iota. The bus just happens to be the fastest way to get around.
Anyhow, it is kinda nice to see. This one is duller than most:Are the buses run by private operators (kind of like taxis) or a single regional transit agency?
Posted 2 years ago # -
JonMyers
HCMC, Vietnam ✈
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johnwirtz wrote >>
JonMyers wrote >>
This isn't the best example, but all the buses here in Buenos Aires have unique paint jobs. Some are more spectacular than others. It's like that in most of South America. I doubt the paint jobs impact ridership one iota. The bus just happens to be the fastest way to get around.
Anyhow, it is kinda nice to see. This one is duller than most:Are the buses run by private operators (kind of like taxis) or a single regional transit agency?
The buses are operated by a central transit authority. When I first got here they were a little intimidating because paying is casual. You just kinda estimate how much to pay based on how far you're going and drops some coins in a container behind the driver. I use them all the time now. They run 24/7 and most rides are about .25 - .50c US. People also politely form a line for the bus when waiting.
There is an underground subway system here, but honestly I never use it nor do most people I know be it locals or expats. Most (myself included) just take the bus or cab it, which is also cheap.
Posted 2 years ago #
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