City of DeKalb revamps 2 public transit buses

By Mariestrella Corral, Assistant News Editor

August 26, 2025

Bus 10 sits in front of the Holmes Student Center bus stop with its new paint scheme similar to the “Warbonnet” paint scheme of the Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railway. Only two buses of the entire DeKalb bus fleet have received the new paint scheme. (Ethan Rodriguez | Northern Star)

DeKALB – Two DeKalb Public Transit buses have been redesigned to promote the use of bus routes providing service to the Elburn Metra station.

The two 35-foot buses have been wrapped to look like vintage locomotives. Both buses take Route 12.

Mike Neuenkirchen, the transit manager for the city of DeKalb, said in a press release that the new bus designs take inspiration from vintage locomotives in the DeKalb community.

“The train inspired theme recalls DeKalb’s history as a railroad community,” Neuenkirchen said.

The bus designs were created by OC Creative, a graphic design business in the area that offers creative marketing to its clients. Brian Oster is the president, owner and the creative director at OC Creative.

“As a creative marketing agency, these are the types of projects our team loves to do,” Oster said via the press release.

OC Creative examined photos of local locomotives used in the 1940s to ensure accuracy.

“The city opted to go in such a unique and creative direction. We love this community and are proud to be representing DeKalb in, literally, such a large way,” Oster said.

The changes made to the two buses are part of an effort to increase awareness of Route 12 buses providing transit to Elburn train station.

“We are excited to see more of these wraps used across all our bus routes in the future,” Neuenkirchen said.

Over the years, the city of DeKalb has been expanding transit options in order to increase mobility and promote the use of public transit, specifically to and from the Elburn train station to connect students and locals to jobs and services outside of DeKalb.

Some of those changes have been connecting Route 12 to the train station, reducing bus fares and eliminating bus fares for NIU students.

In March 2023, a free park and ride lot to and from the train station was added. The lot, called Frost Lot, is located off of East Locust Street between North Sixth and North Seventh Street.

Changes made to public transit, especially to Route 12, have paid off as bus usage to the train station has increased.

In 2024, Route 12 provided around 27,000 passenger trips to the train station. This is a 500% increase in usage between 2022 and 2024.

More information on the schedule and the services Route 12 offers can be found on the city of DeKalb public transit page.