CDL.TO
Moderator
I like that they're looking at branding & marketing as well. If the service is better than a regular bus, sometimes marketing and signage can differentiate it. For example in Waterloo when they had a new express bus they called it "iXpress", they had specially branded buses, stops and simple to understand maps.
Branding is a great idea. It's been shown to raise the profile of transit and help increase ridership.
I just hope that they don't do it in a typical "missed the point" TTC way. A branded service should not consist of all the express routes, but should be limited to those which also meet a minimum level of service standard. If the 145, with about 4 round trips a day, shares branding with the fast *and* frequent 196 or 199, the branding will be far less effective.
We could end up with a TTC route typology like this:
- ROCKET NETWORK - Higher speed routes operating every 10 minutes or better
- FREQUENT NETWORK - Local routes operating every 10 minutes or better
- REGULAR ROUTES
- EXPRESS ROUTES
- LIMITED SERVICE
- PREMIUM EXPRESS - Peak period only. Additional fare required