In Racine, the municipal bus service is undergoing a big change. The Belle Urban System and its familiar blue buses are disappearing, to be replaced with a new look and a new name: “RYDE.”
"You might think we don't know how to spell," said Mayor Dickert at an unveiling ceremony at the city's Transit Center on State Street Monday. "It's not an acronym. We just want people to look differently at us and look differently at how they ride."
The new buses, which are being phased in, will have a bright orange-based color scheme.
Dickert says the branding overhaul is more than cosmetic.
New service is being added that’ll link Racine to Kenosha’s Metra train station. Special promotions are being planned with an eye toward increasing ridership. And the system continues to boast about a new app that allows smart phone holders to walk up to any bus stop and immediately determine when the next bus will arrive.
The seven-day-a-week service chalks up nearly one-point-three million passenger trips annually.
-0-