The City of Bloomington hopes to increase its engagement with residents using an existing fleet vehicle. A 2009-model-year vehicle in the city fleet has been repurposed as the Bloomington Engagement Vehicle (BEV).

The BEV was designed to bring local government to the people — city staff will drive around Bloomington neighborhoods to gather input on city projects, share information, and find solutions on a variety of topics. This will allow the city to reach residents who do not attend town halls or public meetings. The vehicle made its debut at the city's Heritage Days parade last month. Up next on the schedule, the BEV will visit polling stations next Tuesday.

Covered in bright colors, the new design aims to catch residents' attention. As part of the city's efforts to be inclusive, the phrase “hi, neighbor” is written around the vehicle in eight languages: English, Chinese, Hmong, Urdu, Russian, Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese.