It’s a public agency that controls a $1-billion operating budget and is in charge of a once-in-a-generation expansion of transit in the GTHA.

But Metrolinx has a problem — most people don’t know what it does.

That’s why the provincial organization has embarked on a rebranding effort it hopes will help it connect with the transit-riding public.

For the past year Metrolinx has been gradually rolling out a new “visual identity” across its divisions. The agency said the new brand will cost $250,000 to research and design.

Agency spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the public’s lack of understanding of Metrolinx’s role is “an ongoing struggle” for the organization.

Research conducted in 2016 revealed that 47 per cent of GTHA residents didn’t know what Metrolinx was and a majority had a “low understanding of the relationships between Metrolinx” and its numerous divisions.

“One of the things that branding can do is it can make clear to the public this is what we do. This is what we’re responsible for,” Aikins said.

Metrolinx’s old circular logo is being replaced with a more austere symbol of intersecting lines. The agency has also ditched its green-and-white colour scheme in favour of a “reduced core colour palette” of black and white, which will be applied to signs, employee uniforms and agency publications.

Metrolinx says it chose the new simpler colour scheme “to increase clarity of communications” with the public, as well as to comply with accessibility legislation requirements relating to colour blindness.

The $250,000 cost of the rebrand covers research, brand analysis, design and the creation of a new “identity standards manual,” according to Aikins.

The figure doesn’t cover the cost of applying the new brand to physical assets such as signs, uniforms and vehicles. Aikins said in order to keep costs down, the new branding will only be applied to Metrolinx’s physical assets as they’re replaced or updated.

She asserted that the cost of the branding is within industry standards for an organization of Metrolinx’s size.

At just 11 years old, Metrolinx is relatively young for a makeover. But since the provincial Liberal government created it in 2006 to co-ordinate transit in the GTHA, Metrolinx’s mandate has expanded from what was primarily a planning role to the operation of transit service and the construction of new lines.

The organization, which reports to the Ontario ministry of transportation, is now responsible for running GO Transit and the Union Pearson Express, as well as overseeing the Presto fare card system used by municipal transit agencies from Hamilton to Ottawa.

It’s also in charge of constructing Toronto’s $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the $13.5-billion regional express rail project that will quadruple the capacity of GO rail lines.

Aikins said deploying a new brand across all its divisions will impress on the public that all these different projects are connected under the Metrolinx umbrella and will signal the agency’s expanded role.

Many of the changes will be subtle and unlikely to be noticed by customers. Some imagery, like the green-and-white livery of GO Transit vehicles, won’t change significantly. Presto cards are being redesigned however.

Metrolinx has come under fire in the past for using public funds to burnish its image, including spending $40,000 to have a fashion designer draw up plans for Union Pearson Express uniforms.

But Alan Middleton, assistant professor of marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business, said having a strong brand is important to the transit agency’s success, and that the $250,000 cost of the design work is reasonable.

“Remember, Metrolinx is not a monopoly,” he said, noting that travellers have the choice of using private cars and other transit agencies.

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“What you ideally want is in the future that people automatically include Metrolinx in their travel planning . . . and you want them thinking of it in a positive manner.”

David Soberman, Canadian National Chair in Strategic Marketing at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said there’s a misconception that “the only thing that really matters is the service and all this marketing stuff is fluffy.

“Well, you know, getting consumers to use something is not just affected by what the service is, but it’s what’s in their mind. And sometimes this fluffy marketing stuff can make a big difference.”

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