Buses with character

Riding on the inside of Bloomington Transit buses provides students and community members a certain level of familiarity with the system and the equipment, but the real soul of the vehicles is much more evident as they pull away.\nAs anyone who has ever pounded serious pavement trying to catch one or sat behind one in campus traffic for a stretch can testify, there's more there than a lumbering beast of a bus -- there's personality.\nEtched on the rear of 22 Bloomington Transit buses is a unique name. From "Hawg" to "Tonka Toy", students have become accustomed to seeing these characters around town.\nAmusing as the nicknames are to civilians, it's Bloomington Transit employees who competed with each other to find just the right way to christen their wheels. General Manager Lew May said the names are the 2-year-old result of a contest among BT employees.\n"It was a way for employees to have some involvement," May said. \nMany workers drive the same buses over and over, so naming them "helps them feel closer to the vehicles they may drive on a regular basis," May said.\nThe contest generated a lot of interest with the BT workforce, and the nearly dozen initial winners got more than free pizza as a prize. Ideas were posted on a board and employees voted on their favorites, eliminating the others in four rounds.\nThe real cache when the results came in was immortality on a decal. Now the names can be seen on about half of Bloomington Transit's fleet.\nJoe Lilly, Operations Manager at Bloomington Transit, said some of the nicknames reflect the quirks of the buses themselves; for example, "Low Rider" sits closer to the ground than other buses, and "Green Giant" is, in fact, a very big green bus.\n"Buses have personalities -- characteristics," Lilly said. "I think we should name all of them." Some BT vehicles ended up with what Administrative Coordinator Brynda Forgas described as "old fashioned girly names" like "Agnes," "Tilly," and "Betsy."\n"It was a fun thing," Forgas said of the contest. "Everyone got involved." \nCustomers also appreciate the nicknames. Forgas said BT sometimes receives phone calls that begin in the manner of "I was just following 'Betsy' down the road, and…"\nForgas got the idea for the game from a transit system in California, and continues to work to keep a casual but professional atmosphere. The bus naming contest is one in a number of events that Bloomington Transit puts on to ensure cohesiveness among its workers. Every summer and Christmas, the employees are treated to celebrations -- most recently, a barbeque involving a dunk tank and a very wet operations manager. \nIt would be difficult not to notice while driving around town that the huge bus blocking your view is called "Powder Puff," but some students are still momentarily stymied by the nomenclature. Senior Joe Rhetts admits he weathered a brief confusion when first exposed.\n"The first one I saw was called "Double Deuce," and I thought it was the model of the bus or something. But later on, I saw one named "Betsy," and I was like 'Huh. I mean, come ON." Soon after, however, Rhetts figured it out. \nWhen it comes to the employees favorites May prefers "Green Hornet" and Lilly is partial to "Agnes," they both agree with May's attitude. "There's no better way to get on or about campus."\nNo matter what the name.\n-- Contact staff writer Jenny Davis at jeedavis@indiana.edu.