In a short meeting on Monday night, Princeton Council discussed the new municipal bus service. Based on the work of two different sets of consultants last year, Council agreed to set up a new bus route, which will run from the Princeton Shopping Center, down North Harrison Street, along Nassau Street, and on to the Princeton Dinky Station on Alexander Street. After a public consultation, it was agreed that the town’s bus services will be rebranded as the ‘Princeton Loop’. The new bus route will be called the ‘Loop Express’. The old ‘FreeB’ service, which runs on a long winding route all around town, will be rebranded as the ‘Loop Local’. Both of the bus routes are active now, and free to ride by anybody.
Council heard feedback from a graphic design team that has been working with the town to create a new ‘brand identity’ for the municipal transit services. As part of that branding, a new ‘LOOP’ logo has been created, which will be added to bus stops along each route. The buses will be green, a favored color of the town of Princeton. The graphic design team wanted feedback, however, on whether the buses should have a black squirrel on them, or a frog.
Council member Michelle Pirone Lambros explained that having an animal figurehead was intended as a way to boost ridership, “the idea being that it’s accessible, fun, light, whimsical”. But what animal should the town go for? What followed was one of the most bizarre Council discussions ever recorded.
David Cohen initially said that he favored the black squirrel. Leticia Fraga was concerned, however, that certain businesses in the town already used a black squirrel as a mascot or logo, and the squirrel might even be trademarked. The graphic designer said that it was an all-new squirrel, specially drawn for the project, and was characteristic of both town and gown. They had also at one stage considered a fox.
Council member Leighton Newlin was very clear, “I’m tired of trees and I’m tired of squirrels. The frog is magical and mystical. Let’s go with the frog please.”
Brian McDonald had several questions about the process for designing the new branding, but he also landed on Team Frog. “I love the frog, and there are probably 1000x as many frogs in Princeton as there are squirrels”. The consultant clarified that the frog in the logo is a ‘spring peeper’ frog, which is more commonly heard than seen.
Mia Sacks agreed with the frog, “I have to land with the frog, it’s just so compelling, I can’t really articulate why. It just seems to fit.” Leticia Fraga revealed that she also preferred the frog, I definitely have a strong preference for the frog…I must admit I’m a bit biased, ‘Fraga’, ‘frog’…since middle school has been a connection for me.” Even David Cohen ultimately changed his vote to support the frog.
With the decision made on the animal mascot, the town will now move ahead with a campaign to inform the public about the new bus route. Many Princeton residents are unaware that the town operates free bus routes. The easiest way to get information about the bus routes is by using the ‘Tripshot’ app, or by consulting the Tripshot webpage, which shows the bus routes, bus stops, times of departures and real-time information about where the bus is at that exact moment.
Michelle Pirone Lambros advised that the town would work with ‘Experience Princeton’ to help get the word out about the bus routes, including working with their social media team, and also running their own adverts and using the municipal newsletter for publicity. As she said, “we want to be ready to say ‘go’ as soon as the buses are done”. Full information about the bus routes will eventually be available at a new web link, “princetonloop.com” (sadly not active at the time of writing).
Related links:
walkableprinceton 