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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Ontario Transit is IMO better than GO Transit. Why does “government” have to be part of the name?

The only reason GO transit was chosen was for the branding.

GO indicates motion, ("get on the GO") and the G and O in the logo make the shape of a train bogey, with the T for Transit indicating a crossection of a train track.
 
^GO Transit was pretty clever in its day. Besides the Government connotation, GO works as a verb.... "why not go by transit"? And the word GO is motion/action connotation worked. Remember the days in which it was conceived - the CN Noodle was still avant garde, and the Hydro plug had only just been created....it was the Hydro Electric Power Commission until 1965. "GO Transit" was quite "mod" for the era.

The point is, NYPD is still NYPD, Wrigley Field is still Wrigley Field, the RCMP is still the RCMP, and we are back to the RCAF after nelecting that legacy for a a couple decades. MTA is still MTA. We don't need anything better than GO Transit. Sure, we can all come up with creative ideas, and every transit geek can create fantasy paint schemes on their PC.... but real branding costs the taxpayer money. Money that is better spent on just about anything else.

If GO Transit is still GO Transit when the Jays celebrate their hundredth year at Whatever Corporation Pays More Stadium, I'm content. Rebranding is an expensive indulgence and does not add value against current transit needs in the GTA. Let the graphics consultants find something else to pay their bills.

Historical digression: I had a conversation last month with one of the old timers who designed the GO "hockey stick" loco paint scheme. It was done in house, with no outside consulting or graphics support. Just some operations staffers with a pencil. The colour for the locos and bilevel fleet was chosen because it was the standard shade for highway traffic signs of that era (GO still being part of MTO, after all) so it was the paint chart code that was most readily at hand.

The same old timer noted that no one could say for sure how or where the choice of dark blue for the original GO GP40TC's came about. Lost in the annals of time, I guess.

- Paul
 
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Totally agree. All the money spent on changing the brand won't make the trains run one minute faster. Given the current era of political spin and centralized decision making, dollars would have to be spent parsing colours, shapes and letters to make sure every single group, community, culture, gender, belief, etc. is adequately reflected. How many thousands of dollars were spent on consultants by The Brewer's Retail to come up with The Beer Store?
 
I'd say GO has one of the most iconic names, logos and livery in Canada (I still hate the metrolinx lime green addition though). It's quite well known outside of Toronto. I think it would be crazy to ever rebrand -- everyone would keep saying the "GO Train" or "GO Bus" regardless.
 
Just like with "Mississauga Transit". One of those rare cases where people prefer the longer name.
I don't really take it anymore, so I have no idea if anyone actually calls it MiWay. Still a lame name when they always have to write MiWay (Mississauga Transit) everywhere so people know what it is.
 
I'd say GO has one of the most iconic names, logos and livery in Canada (I still hate the metrolinx lime green addition though). It's quite well known outside of Toronto. I think it would be crazy to ever rebrand -- everyone would keep saying the "GO Train" or "GO Bus" regardless.

From The design history of the GO Transit logo:

Italian-American master designer, Massimo Vignelli. Massimo told me, “good design should be invisible."

...

The logo has become an indelible component of the urban fabric of Toronto and eminent recognition to the crown corporation—an enviable goal that most graphic designers strive to accomplish with any logo they design.
 
Noticed this question and response on twitter. Can't remember by did the government provide a dollar cost for this in the 2018 budget?

2K6AysC
 
Asked about weekend services on Stouffville Line, and here is their answer:

Screenshot_2018-06-27-20-38-23.png
 

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