Harlingen Express to operate under Valley Metro
The Rio Grande Valley’s largest bus service is getting a brand makeover.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council will consolidate the three bus services it operates in Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties under one name this fall as it seeks to increase ridership and eliminate confusion among riders.
The Rio Metro, Rio Transit and Harlingen Express services will operate under a new “Valley Metro” name and color scheme as the development council phases in two dozen new buses this fall. The bus system will also operate under the slogan: “Connecting the Valley One Ride at a Time.”
The changes in name and design will eliminate confusion among bus passengers who didn’t realize the three services connected the Valley together, said Enrique Lastra, a graduating senior from the University of Texas-Pan American who helped design the new campaign.
“Every big city has a ‘Metro,’” he said. “We wanted to step away from the three different names that they have with one that would resonate throughout the whole Valley.”
The transition to one banner will begin this fall with a marketing campaign as the new buses hit the streets.
The simple Valley Metro logo incorporates a contiguous ‘V’ and ‘M’ under a green and blue color scheme. The marketing campaign will sell the environmental benefits of mass transit and could feature advertising spots, colorful brochures and smart phone applications with bus routes and schedules.
Jennifer Lemanski, an associate professor of communications who structured a summer marketing class to rebrand the transit system, said the new name and slogan should bring new attention to the service.
“The research that my students did showed some confusion among potential customers,” she said. “(The customers) didn’t know what all went together, so hopefully a unified name will eliminate the confusion.”
The name change comes as Valley transportation leaders are working to connect the bus services.
The development council is coordinating with bus services in McAllen, Brownsville and on South Padre Island to link up the different systems, allowing passengers to easily catch a bus from any service to anywhere in the Valley, said Ken Jones, the development council’s executive director. The other bus systems may also incorporate ‘Metro’ in their names as part of a Valleywide marketing campaign.
