Building upon the scented success of the first bus stop Flower Bomb last year, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) effort and Mayor Carlo DeMaria are looking to capitalize on the excitement during the winter season.
Today, Dec. 18, BRT officials and Mayor DeMaria will be at the bus stop on Broadway/Chelsea to showcase the Winter Flower Bomb – another creation by Krissy Price at the bus stop based upon a palette of winter plants. Mayor DeMaria and BRT officials will hand out hot chocolate, hot cider, candy canes and other treats as they tout the benefits of BRT in Everett and beyond.
“Broadway is one of Greater Boston’s highest-potential transit corridors, so it’s important that we not only prioritize but really celebrate our buses and the people who ride them,” said Mayor DeMaria. “I urge everyone who rides the bus to speak up for more improvements and BRT, and if you haven’t ridden the bus lately, you should! The experience may be a pleasant surprise.”
Adrian Gill, of Ad Hoc Industries, is serving as the creative director for the BRT initiative and said the Winter Flower Bomb will be a way to generate excitement for something that typically isn’t exciting – waiting for the bus.
“We really thought the last Flower Bomb was super successful and we wanted to ty to do a winter version that could stay up longer,” he said. “The last one was only up three days because of the nature of fresh-cut flowers. This one will be made with dried flowers and will stay up at least a month. That’s the big difference between the two of them. Because this one will go in over the winter, it’s going to have more of a winter super-feel to it.”
Gill said Price would be using dried flowers, birch branches and LED lights at night.
The idea isn’t just to delight in the beauty of seasonal flowers, but to generate excitement for the bus and the idea of enhancing it with BRT improvements like dedicated bus lanes and level boarding.
“It’s really going to be a cerebral thing and the reason why we chose this idea for a Flower Bomb is because flowers are a universal sign of giving and crosses all barriers – whether class, politics or language,” said Gill. “No matter what, we can all speak with the language of flowers. We thank the mayor and how much he has already done. Now we can bring something exciting to public transportation. It’s good to do something celebratory with BRT. It’s not only the metrics. Any time we can improve the experience for bus riders, it’s a good thing.
“There are only so many times you can go to the public and talk about BRT before it becomes boring,” he continued. “ Now we have an opportunity to talk about level boarding and other BRT concepts with an interesting frame – flowers.”
The event on Wednesday, Dec. 18, will take place at 11 a.m. in Everett Square.