Introducing the Community to a Newly Branded Transit System

Fredericksburg Regional Transit was founded in 1996 — and its brand dated back to that time. The agency decided it needed a fresh start to reposition itself in the community, with a rebrand that offered a fresh look for its buses.

HDR led Fredericksburg Regional Transit through a comprehensive agency-wide rebranding process, the output of which includes a new logo, business templates, bus wrap designs, schedule brochures, operator apparel, transit building signage, and wayfinding signage, as well as a comprehensive brand guidelines book. As part of the rebranding process, a new shorthand name for the agency was also created — FXBGO! HDR coordinated a brand preview of a fully wrapped bus for a large community event, along with brand introductory boards and illustrated coloring pages for children.

The resulting brand is a total refresh, leaving behind buses that reminded many of tourist buses in favor of a fresh new look.

Fredericksburg Regional Transit provides public transportation services to three jurisdictions and two local universities and provides Virginia Railway Express feeder bus service. A department of the City of Fredericksburg, the agency provides a deviated fixed route system with approximately 300,000 trips annually.

Brand Informed by Outreach

The comprehensive brand addresses the transit agency’s role in the community.

The brand mission: “To provide an accessible, dependable, and safe transportation service for residents and visitors of the City of Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Stafford Counties.”

The brand essence is “neighborly, heritage, personality and voice” with values of “safety, dependability, commitment, community and stewardship.”

The transit system is now referred to as Fredericksburg GO! with an accompanying blue logo. The brand includes several other pieces, all brought together by the in-depth outreach process with stakeholders.

Holistic Approach 

HDR’s team combines branding experts with transit expertise, and the branding process covers every aspect of the customer journey: station, experience, wayfinding and more.

After the initial launch, our team has continued to design vehicle-specific wraps for area-specific routes in the agency’s fleet. This included designs provided to the manufacturer to wrap the exterior of buses and support for updated administrative/support vehicles.

The process also included working directly with agency staff. Our team engaged with bus operators to redesign uniforms, which increased employee buy-in to the rebranding process.

Marketing Support

The next phase of the project launch is implementation of marketing support through a mix of traditional and new media. Our team will produce digital content featuring the new brand and will outline recommendations for advertising and promotion of Fredericksburg Regional Transit, including social media, a brand kick-off community event, and print and web-based advertising campaigns and partnerships alongside community happenings. The HDR team has been thrilled to support Fredericksburg Regional Transit in this transformative update in line with their achievements and growth.