Foxton96
Wellington bus spotting 27/3/2018
NZ Bus 2005 MAN 17.223 No. 2488 sporting its new metlink livery snapped laying over at the Lambton Interchange bus hub on Tuesday, 27 March 2018.
Some are calling it the Yuklink livery!
2488 CTU882 / 2005 MAN 17.223./ VIN:7ABA800360AD01020 / Designline B51DW bodywork. Metlink livery, Kilbirnie.
FROM 'WELLINGTON YELLOW' TO 'VOMITRON GREEN' - CAPITAL'S NEW BUSES AREN'T EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEA
By DAMIAN GEORGE
April 6, 2018
It's the end of the line for Wellington's yellow and black buses, with bright green and blue "vomitrons" rolling in to replace them.
The vast majority of Wellington's fleet – about 420 buses – will be almost an entirely new colour from early 2019 as the various branding of the bus companies operating across the region is replaced by Metlink livery.
A handful of buses sporting the new green, blue and yellow colour scheme have already appeared on the capital's streets, and have already drawn criticism.
Rongotai MP Paul Eagle dubbed the new buses "vomitrons", comparing their colour scheme to the green "nauseated face" or "vomit" emoji.
His less-than-flattering moniker was backed by hundreds on social media.
A Facebook poll by Greater Wellington regional councillor Daran Ponter on what the new colour should be called pitted "Jamaican lime" against Eagle's "vomitron" suggestion, with the latter gaining a 56 per cent majority from 327 votes.
Eagle's criticism was tongue-in-cheek, but he said the decision to switch from having yellow and black buses should have been taken to the public.
"Look, I don't want to waste money like the former prime minister [John Key] did and go out for a massive consultation [like the flag change referendum], but it would have been nice to have a little bit of conversation around it," he said.
"Wellingtonians have got used to the Go Wellington livery for quite some time now, and regardless of what the other cities and districts around the region have ... the reality is yellow and black is synonymous with Wellington."
There could have been an online poll or a bus displayed in the proposed new colour to gauge public opinion, Eagle said.
Ponter said he too would have preferred the decision receive public input.
While the bright green buses were "better in person than they look on paper", he also preferred yellow. But he accepted "the bus had left the station" when it came to deciding on the colour.
"I suppose there is a thought here that you don't want to impose a Wellington colour on the rest of the region," Ponter said.
"I think what we are trying to do here is build a strong brand image with the Wellington travelling public, so that if you're getting on a bus in Wainuiomata or Masterton or the Kāpiti Coast or Wellington city, you know that you're travelling with Metlink."
The regional council's general manager of public transport, Wayne Hastie, said the green colour was already a core part of the Metlink brand, and making all buses one colour was part of the "relaunching" of that brand.
The buses, which will retain yellow fronts, would be more visible to pedestrians and hopefully reduce the number of pedestrians being hit by them, Hastie said.
Some buses, such as ones used for charter services or school runs, would not be repainted, so it was possible some yellow buses would still be spotted, he said. - Stuff
Wellington bus spotting 27/3/2018
NZ Bus 2005 MAN 17.223 No. 2488 sporting its new metlink livery snapped laying over at the Lambton Interchange bus hub on Tuesday, 27 March 2018.
Some are calling it the Yuklink livery!
2488 CTU882 / 2005 MAN 17.223./ VIN:7ABA800360AD01020 / Designline B51DW bodywork. Metlink livery, Kilbirnie.
FROM 'WELLINGTON YELLOW' TO 'VOMITRON GREEN' - CAPITAL'S NEW BUSES AREN'T EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEA
By DAMIAN GEORGE
April 6, 2018
It's the end of the line for Wellington's yellow and black buses, with bright green and blue "vomitrons" rolling in to replace them.
The vast majority of Wellington's fleet – about 420 buses – will be almost an entirely new colour from early 2019 as the various branding of the bus companies operating across the region is replaced by Metlink livery.
A handful of buses sporting the new green, blue and yellow colour scheme have already appeared on the capital's streets, and have already drawn criticism.
Rongotai MP Paul Eagle dubbed the new buses "vomitrons", comparing their colour scheme to the green "nauseated face" or "vomit" emoji.
His less-than-flattering moniker was backed by hundreds on social media.
A Facebook poll by Greater Wellington regional councillor Daran Ponter on what the new colour should be called pitted "Jamaican lime" against Eagle's "vomitron" suggestion, with the latter gaining a 56 per cent majority from 327 votes.
Eagle's criticism was tongue-in-cheek, but he said the decision to switch from having yellow and black buses should have been taken to the public.
"Look, I don't want to waste money like the former prime minister [John Key] did and go out for a massive consultation [like the flag change referendum], but it would have been nice to have a little bit of conversation around it," he said.
"Wellingtonians have got used to the Go Wellington livery for quite some time now, and regardless of what the other cities and districts around the region have ... the reality is yellow and black is synonymous with Wellington."
There could have been an online poll or a bus displayed in the proposed new colour to gauge public opinion, Eagle said.
Ponter said he too would have preferred the decision receive public input.
While the bright green buses were "better in person than they look on paper", he also preferred yellow. But he accepted "the bus had left the station" when it came to deciding on the colour.
"I suppose there is a thought here that you don't want to impose a Wellington colour on the rest of the region," Ponter said.
"I think what we are trying to do here is build a strong brand image with the Wellington travelling public, so that if you're getting on a bus in Wainuiomata or Masterton or the Kāpiti Coast or Wellington city, you know that you're travelling with Metlink."
The regional council's general manager of public transport, Wayne Hastie, said the green colour was already a core part of the Metlink brand, and making all buses one colour was part of the "relaunching" of that brand.
The buses, which will retain yellow fronts, would be more visible to pedestrians and hopefully reduce the number of pedestrians being hit by them, Hastie said.
Some buses, such as ones used for charter services or school runs, would not be repainted, so it was possible some yellow buses would still be spotted, he said. - Stuff