Equal parts corporate video and transit brand ad, this piece for SNCF pulls out all the stops in this brilliantly animated video. It's a trip. Produced by animator ChezEddy and directed by Maxime Bruneel for Elephant at Work.

In the immortal words of of Seth Meyers, "Really? Really?"

It is tough to do a good job selling transit-in-development or transit-oriented development, but this big budget, slickly produced spot does a good job of exciting the imagination of the viewer, whether urban-plan-fan, anorak/trainspotter or regular commuter Joes.

"Building tomorrow's network while running today's", says the voiceover.

The English version offers "Tomorrow on track today" as the tagline that closes the spot which sounds rather corporate mission-statement-ish. For communication value, I much prefer the French version which in spirit, says "we have big plans for you." capturing the vision angle with a lovely light touch.

Réseau Ferré De France is the company that builds, maintains and runs the French national railway network. This advertising campaign seems to be well ahead of its website - which while not too badly designed, is a touch dated, and a little too corporate to be effective. Pushing Buses, which has a proprietary Rayon-Polyester-Microfibre-Carbon dating process to estimate such things, dates it circa 2006.

You can watch the "making of" video here, if that's the sort of thing that turns your crank. 
http://youtu.be/1JHN0GXePXg

Bon voyage mes amis!

Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2011. 

San Francisco's BART has long been one of the best transit marketers in the world.

Most adults think school kids should be kept away from spray paint. But when they do take a chance they discover there is no energy cleaner than youth energy. In San Diego, school kids were set loose on this San Diego Transit Bus. They left their mark: beautiful images promoting planet friendly activities.

Grass-bus: Mobile lawn spreads environmental awareness at Thessaloniki

Pay for the Subway Using Your iPhone

Pushing trains should be easier if you're one of the Mad Men, no?

To all promoters, champions and fans of transit and public transportation. Spread the word. Another winter reason to ride, courtesy Statoil.
Will post credits and kudos when I find out whodunnit.

With 705,000 views, this video went viral a while ago. You don't need to understand Mandarin to appreciate the brilliant simplicity of inventor Chen Jianjun's concept: a train that never has to stop at a station. Designed for use on the high speed Wuhan-Guangzhou corridor, the concept uses detachable (and dock-able) disembarkation pods for on-the-go passenger transfers. In eliminating just 15 three-minute stops on the 968-kilometre stretch it would save 45 minutes. The Wugang Passenger Railway, as the line is also known, is already the world's fastest train service (313 km/h average speed impress you much?). It opened for service in December 2009.

"The Train that Never Stops" was a fascinating idea in the first place as its viewership attests, but now it has hit the big time - it made it into the New York Times Magazine's The Year in Ideas - an annual celebration of extraordinary thinking.