A New Brand Honouring Regional Heritage and Future Growth

• Full rebrand for a transit agency that serves Niagara Region, Ontario
• Company staff, operator and community listening sessions
• Vehicle wrap and decal design
• Brand launch and advertising campaign

The Niagara region of Ontario is home to some of Canada’s oldest and most historic transit agencies, with St. Catharines, Welland, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara Region operating independent bus systems for decades. As the communities grew, so did the need for a more connected transit system. In 2023, the area’s transit agencies joined together to create a new entity: Niagara Region Transit. The new commission asked for HDR’s help creating a brand that honours the legacy of the region’s rich history while creating a bold, modern, future-forward identity.

Our team started the rebranding process with a series of listening sessions for the community and Niagara Region Transit staff. A visioning workshop with the local union chapter’s leadership cemented several universal themes that would become cornerstones of the new brand, culminating in a visual identity rooted in pride, freedom and legacy and reflective of the most defining and unifying feature of the area: water. 

After further visioning workshops with Niagara Region Transit’s executive leadership team, key stakeholders, and the Niagara Transit Commission Board, HDR recommended renaming the agency to Niagara Transit and proposed a visual identity centred around themes of water, movement and history. 

The transit agency’s new logo is a subtle nod to Niagara Falls, a popular tourist destination in the region. But through the listening sessions, it became clear that Niagara Region’s cultural ties to water run much deeper than just the Falls. The new brand’s blue and green colour palette was directly inspired by the brilliant colours of not just the Falls, but also the Great Lakes, the Welland Canal, and the many locks and harbours throughout the region, paying homage to both the importance of Niagara to Canada’s waterway trade industry and the significance of water to the region’s current and historical Indigenous communities.

Our team created a new tagline for the transit agency: We’re going your way. This message reflects the pride that operators feel about providing an essential service to their communities, paired with the agency’s forward-thinking vision for transit in the region. The new colours, expression and logo were incorporated into refreshed vehicle wrap designs, bus stop signage and more. 

The new brand was approved in the summer of 2024 and finalized later that fall. HDR organized and led a three-month digital advertising campaign the following spring to formally reintroduce the region-spanning transit agency to the people it serves. In 2024, Niagara Transit delivered 10.9 million rides across all services.