WESTbus

[TheNerdCharlie]

So, it seems like all of the buses in the WECA region (Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North / North-East Somerset) are to be painted lime green. They have already began painting First Buses, as well as new buses arriving with this livery by default. However I have some questions:
- Will this move to stagecoach and other operators to or is this just a partnership with first?
- Why have they added Dan Norris' name to all of the buses, seeing as he Won't be mayor after May 1st and also especially with the allegations surrounding him
- Finally, why that specific green - was there a consultation surrounding it, it seems rather bright and will probably stain really easily and look quite dirty once the buses rack up some miles

 

[Dai Corner]

So, it seems like all of the buses in the WECA region (Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North / North-East Somerset) are to be painted lime green. They have already began painting First Buses, as well as new buses arriving with this livery by default. However I have some questions:
- Will this move to stagecoach and other operators to or is this just a partnership with first?
- Why have they added Dan Norris' name to all of the buses, seeing as he Won't be mayor after May 1st and also especially with the allegations surrounding him
- Finally, why that specific green - was there a consultation surrounding it, it seems rather bright and will probably stain really easily and look quite dirty once the buses rack up some miles

I expect any buses with Dan Norris's name on will have it removed PDQ, given recent events.

 

[cnjb8]

I suspect the colour was chosen by WECA and not the operators, similar to the Bee Network yellow chosen by TfGM that shows up dirt really easily

 

[ChilternTurbo]

I think as a livery it would have been better if the colour had been broken up by a contrasting green, along the lines of the soon to be defunct First Leeds City livery which I think looks extremely smart. I was in Bristol last month and was struck by the complete mist-mash of different liveries. Interesting from a bus photography perspective but not very cohesive from a branding point of view...

Having said that, I will be sad to see the current Badgerline scheme go as I think it looks distinctive and eye catching.

 

[buslad1988]

To be fair they’ve picked a fairly nice shade of green. Whilst it’s plain it does stand out.

Makes a change from all the horrid yellow up north - don’t want to divert off topic but Manchester should have been orange.

It seems things are going back to the days of the early 80’s with simple allover paint jobs and a few vinyls. Liveries/branding seem to be a thing of the past in many areas now (even the new Stagecoach livery is a plain base with with vinyls).

One thing I do hope Westbus does is simplify the network though. So many route variations and ‘X1a’ type numbers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm surprised they've chosen that name given that there's already a fairly large coach company called Westbus - are they not bothered?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The green is the house colour of the TravelWEST - the single entity responsible for coordinating travel information and provision of certain services in the West of England Combined Authority area and North Somerset.

The colour is used on WESTlink DRT minibuses, on WESTcargo bikes, on e-bikes (WESTbike) and increasingly now on buses. Following the convention, that is WESTbus and yes, they too have received the same green colours with white branding. I seriously doubt they are bothered about a relatively small coach firm near Heathrow - it's just about a common WEST brand.

Whether you like the colour or not is subjective. I don't mind the colour but think that it would be improved by a darker green for the skirt/rear as with the First Leeds City scheme as mentioned. Otherwise it looks a bit bland though I guess it is easy to apply and maintain which does seem to be the objective with it and the new Stagecoach scheme. Certainly, Bristol and Bath has a multitude of redundant schemes and many colours and I thought (in Bristol especially) that things had gone a bit far in individual route branding. Instead, we're going to have a slap it on, one size fits all, approach. I would say that with both the changes in First's fleet AND the moratorium on repaints that was experienced, the fleet looks a bit of a mess. Why is it just First....? Perhaps they are using it as a means to avoid franchising whilst Stagecoach aren't on board yet (or want franchising)??

The mention of Dan Norris on literature has proved contentious for some time, believing he was using that and his position as metro mayor in order to boost his election chances last year. Personally, I share that concern, and that's aside from the recent arrest etc.