By Kate Reardon
Herald Writer
EVERETT — Fumes from the red, gray and white paint linger in Dennis Wibbelman’s auto body shop even though he’s moved on to applying the finishing touches — new wing decals — to the side of the Everett Transit bus.
The city-owned transit agency will unveil its new image today at the 1 p.m. opening dedication of the new Pacific Avenue overpass.
After the opening, the bus will go into service.
The newly painted buses are red across the top, with gray and white spanning the middle and lower sections. An ET graphic designer came up with the design.
A new logo — wings with a red circle encompassing the letters ET — decorate the sides, front and back of the buses.
"We wanted to create a sense of movement and a design that was clearly recognizable," said Donna Ambrose, governmental affairs and informational manager for the city’s transportation services.
Each bus also will have an American flag decal. Snippets saying "Spirit of Everett" or "Spirit of Lowell" will appear on the outside of each bus near the driver’s side.
"It’s handsome and classy," Ambrose said. "The whole idea was to stand out."
And that they should.
The buses should be easier to see from a distance, allowing riders to distinguish Everett Transit from Sound Transit and Community Transit, the other transportation services in the area, Ambrose said.
Right now, all transit agencies operating in Everett have white buses, which can be difficult for riders to tell the difference, Ambrose said.
Longtime bus rider Mark Garcia, 48, of Everett said he’d heard the buses were going to get a face lift. "I’m curious," he said. " There’s a lot of blue to them (the various bus lines), and I think they need to be jazzed up."
When told the buses would be red, gray and white, Garcia said, "That ought to be a real eye opener."
Everett’s old design, introduced in the late 1980s, includes blue, green and black diagonal stripes. The new design is simpler and uses only two colors.
Ambrose said the timing to unveil the new look was perfect, given the Pacific Avenue overpass opening and the new transportation hub, Everett Station, which will open Jan. 31.
Another benefit, Ambrose said, is that it will cost the transit agency less to repaint the buses with the new design than with the old. It cost $5,200 or more to paint the buses with the old design; it costs $4,200 to $4,800 with the new design.
It could be about three years before all 41 buses portray the new look, which will be phased in as vehicles require repainting or as new ones are added to the fleet, she said.
Ambrose said she figures ET will save about $30,000 on 26 buses that will be repainted because the new design has fewer colors and is a simpler design to paint.
"The maintenance on them will make sense," Wibbelman said. "They didn’t put a bunch of expensive decals in common places where damage occurs on these buses."
Everett Transit has operated as a city agency since 1969. There have been attempts to merge ET with CT for a number of years.
"It’s a move to show the community that we’re here to stay," Ambrose said.
You can call Herald Writer Kate Reardon at 425-339-3455
or send e-mail to reardon@heraldnet.com.
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