Calgary’s Green Line transit project is sporting a new look, with a refreshed, revamped and focused website.
The site launched officially on Monday, the culmination of nine months of work by the Green Line team. At the same time, a new Twitter handle and Facebook page was launched for the Green Line.
In July, the Green Line got the official go ahead from both the federal and provincial governments. The new site will grow and change as the $5 billion project takes shape over the next five years.
“The number one goal of the new website and our visual identity is to make it easy for Calgarians to find information about the Green Line project moving forward,” said Wendy Tynan, Director, Stakeholder Relations with the Green Line.
Tynan said once the revised procurement and construction phasing was approved in June, and the funding in July, it’s been a steady process of updating all information before launch.
Aside from the look – which is different from the City of Calgary website – the layout is one thing users will notice. Information is grouped according to the type of user: Construction, Planning, Riders, Business, Calgary and Governance.
Each tab provides pertinent info based on user needs.
This launch is the first phase of the new website. It has roughly 40 different pages of content, Tynan said. They expect, as different components of the project take shape, they’ll add more pages in a second phase.
Green Line social media
Along with the new website are new social media channels – GreenLine YYC (Facebook) or @GreenLineYYC (Twitter). Tynan said this is a major project built over a number of years and they need to be directly accessible to the public. Citizens need to know they can connect with the team in whatever way they’re comfortable with, she said.
“This is all Green Line,” Tynan said.
“We want to make sure that we’re able to participate in the conversations that Calgarians are having about the Green Line.”
The website’s accent colours represent different themes: Live, community, nature, play, build, work and grow.
Along with the website, social media will be an instant opportunity to share information, particularly around potential detours, closures or construction that may impact businesses or their patrons.
Tynan said these won’t just be push channels though. It will be monitored, and they will be responding to people interacting with them.
Green Line advocate LRT on the Green was one of the first to make mention of the new site on social media.
LRToG president Jeff Binks said with the Green Line being the largest government infrastructure project in Alberta’s history a new website was appropriate.
“The creation of a stand-alone identity for the project is long overdue and Green Line geeks will rejoice at the refreshed website now that we’re moving into the launch of construction,” Binks told LiveWire Calgary.
Map tools and colour palette
One of the areas the Green Line team will build out over time is mapping. They have a Green Line alignment map with the planned stations. It’s built using the same engine as their planning and development map.
If you click on a station, right now it provides basic, current information. Tynan said as the line takes shape, more information will be attached to those points.
“It’s really going to be about telling the stories in those specific areas,” she said.
We also asked a nerdy question about the use of colours. Turns out, the Green Line team is just as nerdy as us.
The website’s accent colours all represent different themes: Live, community, nature, play, build, work and grow. They wanted to represent it as a city-building project.
“As we move forward, we’ll probably start playing a little bit more with them,” said Tynan.
“We really did want to tell a broader story and make sure that we could always talk about more than just the Green Line because this project is going to be about more than just infrastructure.”
There’s one small thing that will keep things consistent. The green boxed ‘G’ will be used for all of the Green Line identity.
Overall, the update is to create a one-stop source for Green Line information.
“As the largest infrastructure project, with all three levels of government as partners, it deserved something bold and fresh and something that we can use throughout the duration of the project,” Tynan said.
