I live in Los Angeles and yes, I love my car. Not because it’s a symbol of my status or a prized possession, but because I’d get nowhere without it.

In a city known for traffic jams and empty carpool lanes, you’d think locals would be begging for ways to avoid our cars. Such is not the case.

In fact, we finally have our Metro but it’s a sad fact that not many people ride it”¦or know where to catch it, for that matter. It will take something bigger, something cooler to convince this LALA to leave her CarCar at home.

Is it possible that this bigger and cooler something is simply better design? Could a cool concept do what a plea for better air quality could not?

Michael Lejeune and his creative team definitely think so. Their campaign for the newly expanded Gold Line (running between Pasadena, downtown and East L.A.) began this summer and they’re hoping it will cause a stir.

“Our goal is to make Metro cool. To compete in one of the most media-saturated cities in the country, we’re trying to inject a sense of fun and personality”¦” says Lejeune.

Colorful, graphic t-shirts and “typographically beautiful” weekly passes printed with a different green tip on each are just the tip of Lejeuhe’s iceberg of design ideas. The online Metro Store sells mugs, model buses and even a tie with tiny metro icons.

All this in the name of public transportation? If it will convert the car-addicted to go cold turkey, then I say more please. Because I’m tired of traffic and exhausted by rising gas prices.

What do you think? Can good design have this much influence?

via Fast Company

image via StepInsideDesign

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