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The 12.5-kilometre Confederation Line LRT will launch in 2018. Transpo has been preparing the transit network in advance of the big switch to LRT.

Judging by its report to Transpo, Entro Communications really likes the idea of the big red O as a standard symbol for the entire transit network.

“It unifies all stations and represents them equally, providing a holistic approach where the system as a whole is seen as being greater than the sum of its parts,” the report says.

Otherwise, Transpo would need to use different symbols, which the consultant dismisses as “ambiguous”, suggesting the navigation efforts would be fragmented.

“A transit system’s weaknesses impact its strengths, so the rest of Ottawa’s system will affect how the new Confederation Line is perceived,” the report says. “Clearly distinguishing one type of station from another makes a statement that OC Transpo views them differently.”

The idea is, someone would look down the street, see the big red O and recognize that there’s a transit connection and have a warm and fuzzy feeling about it, knowing it’s connected to the state-of-the-art LRT line.

But Transpo doesn’t want to hold back the O.

Scrimgeour said the red O will be included in other Transpo graphics, such as bus stop signs, at prominent transit locations. In fact, transit riders can expect to start seeing more of the O in 2017 as Transpo prepares to expand the rail service in 2018, he said.

Entro Communications also offered advice on Transpo’s sub-brands, digital displays, graphics, maps and route numbering.

Several pages of the consultant’s 399-page report were intentionally omitted, the city says, because disclosing the information would reveal confidential information, interfere with contracts or negotiations, or result in undue loss or gain for a person or group.

A purchasing report in 2015 indicated Transpo paid the consultant $265,512 for the work. It was a permitted sole-sourced contract because, as Transpo referenced under the city’s purchasing bylaw, “only one source of supply would be acceptable and cost effective.”

jwilling@postmedia.com

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