I do like the idea of mascots, but truthfully I think they are better done as non-human mascots and need to be simple. I think Japan got this right with Yura-chara[0]. There seems to be a strong preference for non-human characters and when there are human ones, they're still overly simplistic.
Seems like same rule about flags[1]: a child should be able to draw it from memory.
Only Barty seems to fit these conditions.
Not for a transit system per se, but the ORCA farecard in Seattle has a mascot named Boop, who is an orca: https://info.myorca.com/news/meet-boop/
There's quite a precedent of sea-related names for transit fare cards. Hong Kong's Octopus, London's Oyster, San Francisco's Clipper... any others I've missed?
Opal in Sydney
Opals aren't sea-related.
I would feel offended if they chose anything else lol. But the orca mascot is cute. Well done Seattle
I always thought this “a child should be able to draw it” thing was an even better example of a vaguely contrarian factoid that sort of makes you sound smart if you don’t think about it too much, so it becomes endlessly repeated. Which is an interesting phenomenon in its own way.
It's not a fact(oid) at all as it's not a statement about reality. it's a principle. You don't have to agree with it, but others might disagree about the quality of the flag you might produce avoiding it.
Agreed. Nyango Star is another example of this sort of mascot done right. He's an apple, a cat, and a heavy metal drummer; what's not to love?
The first BART mascot has a little blue chibi goat next to the human girl, and I can't tell if the chibi is supposed to be an alternate form of the girl or a completely separate entity, but either way it seems like it could be a solid yura-chara.
> I think Japan got this right
I like DPS-kun from beatmaniaⅡᴅx copula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcfmIKKMu7Y
They made a plush of him that's very cute too
> Seems like same rule about flags[1]: a child should be able to draw it from memory.
Im a grown ass man and can't draw the US flag properly from memory, much less the many far more complicated flags out there.
I don't think that definition is particularly useful.
It is a useful concept, and letting the whispers of the vexillophiles[0] into your head will lead you to see that most flags are well, pretty bad.
CGP Grey has a lot of opinions[1] about this.
It's a "you should" kind of rule not a "everyone follows this with no exceptions" kind of rule. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I can think of an example of the latter
> It's a "you should" kind of rule not a "everyone follows this with no exceptions" kind of rule.
It's not a "you should" kind of rule either. It's something someone made up and wants to persuade other people of for no particular reason, similar to "don't split infinitives".
There is no benefit to having people be able to draw the flag accurately. A flag has two purposes:
1. Be easy to recognize.
2. Be visually impressive.
Two good flags are the flag of California and the flag of Saudi Arabia. You'd have a hard time drawing either one, but that's not a problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia
(Note also that I've seen a Spaniard claim her flag was easy to draw. She meant that it's easy to draw if you don't bother to draw the coat of arms.)
They have non-human characters. The key mistake they made is that they put the human characters front and center. The human characters should appear in accompanying comics where they end up interacting with the animal mascots, not be the mascots themselves.
We have something similar here in Kyoto! But we're Japan so there's an actual anime [1] and a character relationship chart [2], both straight from the city government.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OInuZFHeQo
[2] https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/cmsfiles/contents/0000215...
> The reincarnated bunny spirit of a legacy car who has seen it all.
Not how I picture a BART car that has "seen it all".
I'm pretty well travelled across Europe and North America, and a little bit of South America.
I've never seen anything like the BART anywhere else - and I don't mean that in a positive way.
It's late where I am, I'm about to go to bed, and now this image of a BART car that has "seen it all" is going to haunt me... I might eat a load of cheese to calm the dreams down...
no kidding.. I lived in SF during the peak of the influx of tech and was a daily BART rider. there's things I can't unsee.
I'm glad I got to experience the carpeted cars with cloth seats even if they got gross some times.
Cloth seats on BART must be among the worst design decisions ever made. Seating on public transit must be something that can be hosed down with bleach, and not a material that will forever hold whatever funk is deposited into it.
I took BART a lot (uhhh) 30 years ago. The trains were very clean and highly policed. I wouldn't even bring a coffee on board, much less smoke crank or whatever. Different era.
Sounds like the dream. All I want is a more frequent police presence in and around the station infrastructure and on the trains for both BART and MUNI. Like why is that a different era? Why can’t that be the current era?
It was way more comfortable to sit on, soft surfaces help keep noise levels down inside the car, and I wash my clothes regularly :p
not sure about “seen it all” but definitely “screamed it all”. I haven’t ridden Bart in a while but i remember the banshee screeches.
This train has a lot more history than you think. Something, something about the NSA and mind-reading. You would not believe it.
The Anime Mascots are a good touch.
This has precedence for the LA Metro in 2017.
https://observer.com/2017/10/la-metro-promotes-transit-etiqu...
Everything is better with anime characters
(I kind of unironically want every public service to have a cute mascot that could be turned into a plushie.)
Good, no wifi, but Mascots. Yeah, I'd like some price hike as well.
Obligatory reminder that BART is going to run out of its emergency funding by spring 2026
Everything in government is always failing. It's a funding mechanism.
Does that mean BART ceases operation?
The only way that could happen is if San Francisco was vacated. Most likely would be that they provide more "emergency" funding.
Baylee is 6' 2"?
Oh damn the heights on the mascots are very anti-stereotypical, 6'2" for the woman and 5'2" for the dude.
It's possible that some of the characters are written as trans-gender.
It would be consistent with (at least my conception of) SF's public messaging.
This is really cute and friendly. I like it; very much in-character for the BART.
My own transit system has sort of developed two mascots. They are not as artful or clever as BART's, but they are designed with a utilitarian purpose: to demonstrate good vs. bad behavior while onboard.
https://www.valleymetro.org/blog/2019/10/quick-guide-light-r...
The characters are named "Right" and "Rong", both humanoids who are differentiated primarily by color and mood. Right, of course, does all the right things and abides by the rules, while Rong is a classic example of the scofflaw you wouldn't want sitting next to you.
Reminds me of the perennial standbys from Highlights for Children, Goofus and Gallant.
Yes it is totally Goofus/Gallant style! Right down to the simplistic verse of the slogans in the window decals. Thanks for making that comparison. I am sure they drew from that fabled tradition, so to speak!
This is kinda cool, but... Coloring sheets? Seriously?
Lol why do the info sheets include blood type?
Giving the blood type of the character is common in anime and manga. Wikipedia links it to a belief that blood type can predict personality.
You can also see it in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.
Okay, but why are we importing pseudoscience?
Because it's fun.
I don't believe astrology is real, but I've assigned birthdays to some of my characters based on zodiac signs which are said to align with their personality, simply because it's cute and fun. I was inspired by the characters of Sailor Moon, each of which have a birthday in a zodiac sign ruled by their associated planet. (So Moon is a Cancer, Mercury is a Virgo, etc.).
I guess to each their own. I can see how it can be fun but when zodiac signs are discussed it is disproportionately about more than "fun" and that certainly biases me (and I think many others).
Homestuck and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race (Terezi is my fav)
It’s from Japanese culture. Knowing a person’s (or a fictional character’s) blood type is something they find interesting. A bit like how we in the west find astrological signs interesting.
For when BART police accidentally grabs their gun instead of their taser?
They're all female? I wonder whether the BART officials know all the connotations of different kinds of anime/manga fandom.
Look if you want to draw rule 34 of the BART mascot that's on you.
Probably I've been on the Internet too long, and gotten a distorted view of what anime fans are interested in.
