Class 1 -Bay Town Trolley
Target Audience: Panama City Beach tourists and resident riders
Project Cost: $40
Description: Bay Town Trolley secured grant funding for a summer route along Panama City Beach.  Running from July 1 – Sep 5, 2011, this route would provide free rides to tourists and/or local residents.  The service would be “flag down”, meaning that riders could board anywhere along the route with a simple hand wave/gesture.  The ultimate goal was to make beach-goers aware of the service, and garner ridership comparable to other system-wide trolley routes.

Once a rider hopped onboard, the team felt it was important to provide a route map with points of interest.  As such, we worked with the Panama City Visitors Center to identify appropriate businesses, restaurants, entertainment, and shops along the route.  This not only provided a visual point of reference for the rider – but would educate on additional attractions in the area.  As a result, businesses reported an increase in foot traffic during the months that the Beach Bus ran.

Class 2 -LYNX
Target Audience: LYNX riders
Project Cost: $2500
Description: It can be difficult to catch people’s attention inside the bus, but this design certainly did.  LYNX received multiple emails from riders pointing out how the shape and swirling action of the beachcomber hat reminded them of the swirling shape of a hurricane.  We’ve had a light hurricane season so far, but there is no doubt the “Swirling Hat” design got the message across.  LYNX Customer Service department says there have been only two calls in July and August asking what LYNX buses will do in case of a hurricane.  Normally we filed that question three-to-four times a week this time of year.