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News Releases December 19, 2008
In the past two months, more than 3,000 residents in the Central Florida region participated in community outreach efforts organized by myregion.org – A Regional Development Program, in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation, to help brand the Central Florida Commuter Rail System. And the results were clear. From hundreds of names originally submitted, citizens overwhelmingly preferred SunRail, with SunTrax a close second. With a unanimous vote Friday, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission concurred: SunRail (trademark pending) is coming to Central Florida. “This is a terrific step forward in bringing the Commuter Rail project to life,’’ said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, chairman of the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission. “SunRail will change the way this community travels, providing the spine of a rail system that we can build upon in the future.’’ “SunRail will not only provide new travel options to our road network, it will be an important economic engine for the Central Florida community for years to come,’’ said FDOT District 5 Secretary Noranne Downs. Micki Meyer, Director of Community Engagement at Rollins College, as well as Megan Reinhart and Larry Wynn, Florida Department of Transportation employees, submitted the SunRail name, or variations thereof, for consideration by the commission. In addition, the overwhelming majority of those surveyed in focus groups agreed the name SunRail was evocative of Florida. More than 400 unique names for the rail project also were submitted via a series of community meetings, as well as through Florida Department of Transportation employee outreach, the project web site – www.cfrail.com, and the myregion.org group on Facebook. Most suggestions featured an environmental theme, such as SunStar and Central Florida Breeze, while others related more to speed, such as Fastrax and Greenspeed. In addition to selecting the SunRail name, Commission members also chose a logo concept for the SunRail system. The logo, designed by Jim Bockstall of Bockstall Design Associates, was developed based on community input and research by myregion.org. The train illustrates motion and speed, which were attributes reflected in many aspects of community research. It will be incorporated into all public involvement materials and serve as the basis for eventual color schemes on the trains. Preliminary research also conducted by myregion.org, including a scientific survey and qualitative questionnaire, revealed that citizens want a modern look, a train that is speedy, sleek, and high-tech. Getting to work on time, safely, dependably and comfortably also ranked high in importance. Citizens also expressed they want the train to have an environmental look – representative of our physical environment, blue skies, green forests and sunny, warm climate – and be illustrative of our “environmental lifestyle” with regard to energy, pollution, congestion and safety. Drawing from the results of initial community surveys, Mr. Bockstall designed eight original logo concepts. Mr. Bockstall then further refined the concepts, based on input from an additional six focus groups throughout the region. A final set of two design concepts were developed for consideration by the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will rollout the final logo design to the community on Wednesday, January 14, 2008, at the Orlando International Airport, as he leads a group of civic, business and government leaders in a Regional Leadership Mission to Charlotte, North Carolina, to ride the city’s new train, the LYNX Blue Line, a 9.6-mile light rail project which has already generated $1.86 billion in private investment along its corridor. In coming months, myregion.org will conduct an additional community outreach effort to help spread the word about SunRail and generate community understanding of the positive impact of SunRail’s anticipated debut in 2011. |
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