DARTs, Luas and Dublin bus to be rebranded?

[philip]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

The DTA have been tasked with is to create a brand for Dublin transport services, we assume that means that means a common logo, common signage and so on

If we look at a city with good transport, say Paris or the Paris region Ile-de-France, transport is mainly SNCF and RATP, do the metro trains share the same livery as the RER trains nope (RATP operate some RER services, SNCF others). Different liveries can in fact be important to distinguish different types of service

If we look at London, they are not repainting the trains on the new London Overground service into the new colours since there are new trains on order and the old ones are not worthy of representing the organisation

Problem with paint is its political show, it provides a tangible and public record that something is happening, but doesn't mean the service is any better, its just like the bus photo, look we go more buses, of course the fact 50 plus sat in a yard in Broadstone for nearly a year due to the Department of Transport is never mentioned

Indeed there are probably plenty of examples of cities with a multitude of liveries with a decent network. Personally I like the German model:
Local operator is usually same for busses/trams/underground/ferries/cable cars etc. which are generally the same livery while a daughter Deutsche Bahn company runs the S-Bahn which is red nationwide (except S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, which uses a hybrid livery which is red and yellow, yellow being the dominant colour for the local operator, BVG).

German public transport is bloated beyond belief with managers and admin. But it works because they all understand that they are part of a system and must deliver their little bit or it all falls apart.

Berlin has at the top, the VBB (the tariff setting body for Berlin and the state of Brandenburg), below this are the operators BVG, DB Berlin, etc. but of course BVG is a wholly owned company of the city of Berlin! DB Berlin is a wholly owned subsidiary of DB AG which in turn is a wholly owned company of the German government all of which have a distinct board of management/directors (all sounds a bit familiar doesn't it). Now, despite all this they work together and take direction from the VBB. The german minister for transport doesn't stick his oar in at every opportunity and everyone works together. THERE IS NO REASON THIS CAN'T HAPPEN IN DUBLIN if the DTA is backed by strong legislation and money.

[sean]

+1

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by philip

The german minister for transport doesn't stick his oar in at every opportunity and everyone works together. THERE IS NO REASON THIS CAN'T HAPPEN IN DUBLIN if the DTA is backed by strong legislation and money.

Except the DTA will be subject to ministerial direction. The proof of the pudding is how often (or not) it is used.

Originally Posted by weehamster

For example, Luas we have the Red and Green line. Later we'll have (probably) the yellow (lucan), purple (Liffey Jtn, hopefully Finglas) (pick whatever colour you want), the metro has north, west, (maybe south later) and the Dart, A and B (maybe). A simple colour/number code system is needed like you see in Madrid.
http://www.geocities.com/weehamster/Lines.jpg

Numbers are better than colours or letters, less confusion.

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

Regardless of the accuracy of the article it makes a solid point that this random changing of colour scheme as is particularly practiced by Dublin Bus is going to cost money, money which of course could be better spent on improving the service, which will actually improve our lot as passengers.

Since the CitySwift / Expresso situation*, DB have only repainted buses about once each in their useful (DB) lives.



* CitySwift and Expresso were created as separate brands to highlight the introduction of QBCs. However, problems arose when buses were moved between services.