No longer are Corvettes and candy apples in a class by themselves. The Long Beach Transit Runabout, renamed the Passport, has a new color as well as a new name.
The Passport is now candy-apple red.
Ria Mealy, marketing manager for the Long Beach Transit, said the blaring red color is to distinguish it from the regular blue and white transit buses
"We wanted something a little more savvy," Mealy said. Another reason for changing the runabout was to make it more tourist friendly.
The Passport provides free transportation to the aquarium and surrounding attractions.
Changing the runabout to the Passport is just one of the many changes scheduled to take place in Long Beach under the Queensway Bay Project.
The City Planning Commission reports that the purpose of the project is to attract tourists and revitalize the waterfront. Phase one of the project has been completed with the opening of the new Aquarium of the Pacific on June 20.
The Passport won't be the only mode of pubic transportation for the waterfront. In conjunction with Catalina Cruises, the Long Beach Transit will introduce the Aqua Bus.
Built to carry 49 passengers, the 40 ft. boat will ferry across Queensway
Bay making a triangle around the Queen Mary, the Aquarium and the vicinity
of the Pine Avenue Pier.