BlueGo name for South Shore bus service going away
By Kathryn Reed
When the South Shore bus service known as BlueGo was launched in 2003 it was supposed to be a state-of-the-art system with high-tech computer terminals at kiosks and a name that would tie into what was known as the Blue World ad campaign.
It cost $4 million for the software and equipment for the kiosks that no longer exist. In fact, it only took a matter of months for people to figure out they were a boondoggle.
The ad campaign is long gone and now we are walking on the wild side.
BlueGo has been a questionable name since the get-go. Photo/LTN file
The last piece to disappear is the name BlueGo. After all, no one knows what a BlueGo is. But it’s still not known if a bus symbol might actually be placed on signs so people would know to stand there for public transit.
South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman Angela Swanson, who is on the board that oversees BlueGo, announced at the Oct. 16 council meeting that a contest will take place to name the bus system.
She directed follow-up questions to Tahoe Transportation District staff.
“We are interested and contemplating changing the name to better fit the service and the future, but we have not worked out the details to answer your questions or give you a time line,” TTD Executive Director Carl Hasty told Lake Tahoe News in an email.
LTN wanted details on the contest, when it starts, and the cost involved to change the name – like painting buses, signs and other things the BlueGo name might be on.
The other things Swanson revealed is that the system has been making money for the past two years and ridership is stable.
TTD officials are slated to be at the Dec. 11 City Council meeting to talk about what a free bus service would entail, the success of the East Shore Express, and ferry service on Lake Tahoe.
Ya’ll sound like a bunch of politicians. Why not name it – Bob’s Ride and be done with it. I won’t tell you who I knew at the software and equipment co. either. Hell. For what it’s worth, call it anything you want. Especially if you have some more money to give one of my computer buddies? What you say, Angela? Wink. Wink.
STAGE
BOONDOGGLE. No other name could be more fitting and precise.
I like Lou’s suggestion. Wasn’t it called South Tahoe Area Ground Express in the past? Of course, if that name sticks, people would expect it to live up to the Express part and if the traffic lights on 50 aren’t coordinated to improve traffic flow, we could call it STALL…Stopped aT Another Ludicrous Light…
I love the bus service in Honolulu…it’s called The Bus
It was Stage before and that was a good name.
Don’t change the name, it would just waste money, changing the labeling on everything.
in the spirit of the wild west, S.T.A.G.E. was and is a good name for the transit system.
Lou, your right. Bring back the name STAGE.BlueGo was a lame name from its inception.
Boondoggle Long Skiis
They already wasted taxpayer money with the boondoggle Bluego scheme and now they are going to waste more by the work involved in changing the name, changing sign, painting buses? Who’s making these decisions!!
I agree – go back to STAGE & quit changing what aint broke! I always thought BlueGo sounded stupid and the whole “blue world” concept is stupid. Remember KISS — Keep it simple stupid? That should be the new SLT concept.
KISS SLT! The air must be getting thinner in SLT…
I also like the Honolulu BUS name. In Belmont, we also had BUS which stood for Belmont Urban System (before it was swallowed up by SamTrans (San Mateo County Transit).
I agree that worrying abut the name of a service that is insufficient in other areas is a waste if time and money. Why do we have a public transportation system that actors to Carson city and Gardnerville but not Meyers? Doesn’t anyone think that it is ridiculous that we can take a bus to Walmart in a different city? Or that we can take a bus to a park in a different city? … However we can’t provide service to people in Meyers that work for South Lake Tahoe and live only 4 miles away?
Another green failure.
“RIDE”
S.T.A.G.E. already ‘chiseled’ into whatever benches there are left. . . “BlueGo” an attempt at the cleverness of the very original “Humphrey GoBart” UC BART shuttle in Berkeley. . .nice to hear Angela’s report that ridership is “stable”, whatever that means. . .Does anyone remember Trapeze, the Canadian transportion software co. that was to serve the kiosk concept, almost a decade ago now ?
??
How about something obvious like, “South Tahoe Transit”?
How come we can’t use some of this transportation money and brainpower to fix potholes and stop lights?