Will Metrolinx take over the TTC subway? A transit logo conspiracy theory
A couple of weeks ago, City State posted a comparison of the TTC’s logo with transit logos from other cities around the world. The conclusion: the TTC’s art deco identifier, while distinctive, lacks simplicity and ease of recognition. Meanwhile, in an unrelated yet completely related development, Metrolinx—the regional transportation body that is poised to take over the GO system and implement road tolls and parking taxes everywhere and will soon run our frickin’ lives—recently unveiled a new logo of its own. As it happens, the new Metrolinx logo is everything the TTC’s is not. More conspiracy theorizing after the jump.
The new Metrolinx logo, so far as I can tell, appears nowhere on the organization’s Web site. I discovered it in an e-mail the organization sent me just this week, inviting me to a transit conference. It immediately struck me as an excellent candidate for membership in the International Brotherhood of Transit Logos: simple, stylish, uncluttered, and starring the letter M, used globally to signify transit. Take one look at that encircled-M design and try to convince City State that it’s not perfect for marking the entry points to such transit hubs as train stations, bus terminals and, oh I don’t know, maybe subway stations?!
It has been suggested that Metrolinx should take over the TTC’s subway train system and possibly other parts of its network. No one knows what’s in the cards right now, but one thing’s for sure: if there were to be a takeover, Metrolinx now has a perfect replacement logo at the ready. That’s step one.
• Premier backs TTC takeover [Toronto Star]
• Is it time to redesign the TTC logo? [Toronto Life]
• Transit system logos from around the world
Shouldn’t the TTC be spending their (our) money on fixing and improving their transportation infrastructure instead of worrying about aesthetics? Is this why we pay for a yearly fare hike? A new paint job on a crappy car won’t make it run any better. Let’s get the system up to 2008 standards before we start worrying what our signs look like in comparison to other cities. How about we build a subway system like London’s or New York’s before we start to wonder what our signs look like compared to theirs.
“The conclusion: the TTC’s art deco identifier, while distinctive, lacks simplicity and ease of recognition.” Whose conclusion? Yours? Many, including myself, strongly disagree. The classic TTC logo is easily recognized, and simplicity is far from a definitively positive quality. I, for one, enjoy a little complexity if it is well-designed. Rounding off all the edges gets you a dumb logo as often as a clean one.