An example of using vehicles as a way to market public services: Park City Transit, Salt Lake City GreenBike

In the vein of my writings ("Part 7 | Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward" and "Orange County Registrar of Elections uses their vehicles to promote voting | branding") on the design method and design and marketing for local governments and transit, specifically concerning sustainable mobility...

I was briefly in Park City, Utah, known for skiing, other outdoor recreation activities, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the annual Sundance Film Festival.  (They're gearing up to bid for another Winter Olympics--"Winter Olympics: What if Park City's weather is as mild as 2018," Park Record.)

In transit terms, Park City is noteworthy as an example of a "resort area transit system" that is free to ride, because it is designed to encourage tourists to not drive as well as to assist residents and employees in getting around.  The choice to offer free transit is a transportation demand management-based decision, along with air quality issues.  (That said, plenty people there drive.)

It's also cool because it's the only ski resort town where the ski lift goes from the town center up one of the mountains, so it's highly visible.  It made me think of the opportunity of the proposed gondola system in Georgetown.  But unlike the transit system, it's not free.


Park City Transit has visually forward liveries for the buses, promoting the city's outdoor recreation assets.  One of the graphics employed features cyclists, either road racing or riding, or mountain biking.




Similarly, while not nearly as aesthetically attractive, the bike share system in Salt Lake City at least promotes using the system, with a marketing message promoting bike share on the vans used in getting around to service the system.


By contrast, DC's Capital Bikeshare vans fail to use the opportunity they have to promote use of the system through attractive messaging.


By contrast, DC's Circulator buses do employ "ads" on the back, promoting transit and sustainable mobility. And one of these ads promotes bike share. In fact, the bike share vans could just use that as an ad on the van's sides, combined with a bit more text.


Capital Bike Share kiosk with an ad promoting the bike share program.