the skunks of los feliz
3.13.2006
Ladies and gentlemen, the MTA is proud to announce the official name of the "Subway to the Sea": the Purple Line!
Please, hold your applause until the end of the speech, or we'll never get through it. Thank you.
Now, we don't have any money for the Purple Line (yet, heh-heh), but we've got to start branding this thing as soon as possible. As you know, we believe that nine-tenths of the battle to get butts in the seats boils down to marketing. That may seem counterintuitive - there are those who say that better, more widespread service is the key to increased ridership - but look at the huge numbers our Gold Line push drummed up.
What an opening weekend, huh? Jam-packed trains! And that was for a poorly-planned line that has gone on to consistently underperform, quarter after quarter!
The Purple Line, on the other hand, is a line that Los Angeles actually needs. Half the battle is already won. To bring this thing all the way home, we need a cutesy handle for it, a marketing angle that we can work if - God forbid - the project starts hemorrhaging money like the unfortunately named Red Line (just for the record, we were opposed to that appellation).
That's where Purple comes in. It tests amazingly well amongst Angelenos - actually, fantastically well, for some reason. It will give the line a personality. It will create buzz.
And, it will look great on t-shirts.
Umm, you can applaud now.
Please, hold your applause until the end of the speech, or we'll never get through it. Thank you.
Now, we don't have any money for the Purple Line (yet, heh-heh), but we've got to start branding this thing as soon as possible. As you know, we believe that nine-tenths of the battle to get butts in the seats boils down to marketing. That may seem counterintuitive - there are those who say that better, more widespread service is the key to increased ridership - but look at the huge numbers our Gold Line push drummed up.
What an opening weekend, huh? Jam-packed trains! And that was for a poorly-planned line that has gone on to consistently underperform, quarter after quarter!
The Purple Line, on the other hand, is a line that Los Angeles actually needs. Half the battle is already won. To bring this thing all the way home, we need a cutesy handle for it, a marketing angle that we can work if - God forbid - the project starts hemorrhaging money like the unfortunately named Red Line (just for the record, we were opposed to that appellation).
That's where Purple comes in. It tests amazingly well amongst Angelenos - actually, fantastically well, for some reason. It will give the line a personality. It will create buzz.
And, it will look great on t-shirts.
Umm, you can applaud now.
Comments:
I hope you do know that all forms of transportation are heavily subsidized:
Cars: free roads everywhere built with federal money, cheap gasoline financed with massive wars.
Buses: huge operating deficits, tax free facilities, streets maintained by local cities.
Trains: government monopoly, annual congressional funding, massive capital expences financed by taxes.
Airplanes: worst offender, government owned and opperated airports, manufacturers hold bloated defence contracts, enjoy the free use of the air (a public resource).
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Cars: free roads everywhere built with federal money, cheap gasoline financed with massive wars.
Buses: huge operating deficits, tax free facilities, streets maintained by local cities.
Trains: government monopoly, annual congressional funding, massive capital expences financed by taxes.
Airplanes: worst offender, government owned and opperated airports, manufacturers hold bloated defence contracts, enjoy the free use of the air (a public resource).
# posted by 
: 1:46 PM
: 1:46 PM
