Eric on The Road

Journeys into the offbeat, off the beaten path, overlooked and forgotten - by Eric Model

Thursday, April 06, 2006

"Pink Line" Train Coming to Chicago

The Chicago Transit Authority has picked the color pink for the name of a branch of the "L" train.

The Chicago Sun Times Reported that the the winning color was chosen based on more than 500 essays submitted by Chicago area students.
According to the article, the line was approved for a 180 day trial, scheduled to start June 25th. The CTA, states the Sun Times, has not decided exactly what shade of pink the line will be.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/pink30.html


The Pink Line name may raise eyebrows here, but pink is a common color on transit maps around the world, according to Maya Emsden, who has researched transit mapping colors for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The reason for pink's popularity is simple, Emsden said. "Your crayola box is huge, but it's got to be a color that's easily replicable," she said. "I don't think it's odd; I think it's interesting."
Choosing a name was easy. The hard part, the CTA said, will be selecting one student from among those who nominated the winning color to receive a $1,000 savings bond. That decision will be made later this spring.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pinkline31.html


Chicago appears to be the first major city in the country to name one of its transit lines after the color pink.
Most cities don't name their lines after colors at all, opting instead for letters, numbers or destinations.
But pink is a common choice for transit maps outside the U.S.
Here are some other cities that use pink to distinguish transit lines in stations or on maps: London; Tokyo; Paris; Mexico City; Moscow; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Brussels, Belgium; Munich, Germany; Madrid, Spain; and Oslo, Norway, according to Metro Maps of the World, a new coffee table book by Mark Ovenden.
Monifa Thomas Chicago Sun-Times at:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pinkline31.html

So what does Chicago -- home of the Bears, the Bulls and Mike Ditka -- think of the "Pink Line"? For a sampling of opinion go to this report at npr.org:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5316442

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home