The Aesthetic Of Public Transportation

My favorite aspect of Denver's system in particular is probably the RTD logo. The Regional Transportation District has a truly iconic logo, with those sharp red and orange mountain points sticking out from the blue background. from what I can tell, the logo hasn't changed at all since its inception in 1969, or at the very least it hasn't changed since the 70s. There's something bizarre about seeing it plastered onto an old 70s model of bus, it seems so contemporary, so hip with the times. 

I suppose logos for government institutions are designed for longevity, to remain applicable for as long as possible. With the recent controversy over so many companies changing their designs to become minimalist, it should be kept in mind how long most public logos persist as opposed to those of private companies. In the 1980s, the logo of Taco Bell was virtually unrecognizable to the one they use today, but the RTD logo still consisted of those nice smooth separated letters.

The logo is also emblematic of the hip logo designs of the age the system was invented- I could easily see the RTD logo being incorporated into some trippy Mod animation. The same effect applied to NASA and the EPA for a while, until NASA officially reverted to their iconic "meatball" logo. While I do prefer the meatball logo, I think the worm logo is in certain ways more distinct. But I can see why they went back to the meatball one, it does convey their overall mindset better. 

The half-split letters in the RTD logo are, symbolically, roads of transit, they represent the multitude of streets in the city and surrounding area with their various connections where separation would normally be. It's a very subtle yet clever design, and it didn't even really hit me until about 5 seconds ago. That just goes to show what a clever design it is.