News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  Dec. 4, 2008

Transit tunnel ads help boost Metro’s bottom line

Beginning this month, bus riders will notice something new in King County Metro Transit’s Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel – the introduction of paid advertising that will generate much-needed income to help offset revenue losses resulting from the faltering economy.

With a national recession and decreased local consumer spending, Metro expects to lose up to $60 million annually in sales tax revenue. So, the agency is looking to generate new revenue by expanding its advertising program to include the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. The tunnel ads have the potential to generate more than $230,000 annually. When combined with sales of ads on bus interiors and exteriors, the ad revenue could climb to more than $6.6 million annually – the cost of keeping 60,000 hours of bus service on the street.

“Given the county’s serious budget crisis, Metro must be creative and use every tool at its disposal to bring in needed revenues, just as private businesses do,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “By taking advantage of new advertising opportunities, Metro is proactively using an entrepreneurial approach to preserve service and meet the demands of its customers at a time of booming ridership.”

This week, Metro is launching tunnel station advertising at Westlake and expects to expand to other tunnel stations. Verizon has signed a contract to be the first company to advertise in the tunnel. It will have a total of 42 ads at Westlake Station, including wall displays, free-standing kiosks, and overhead hanging banners. During the month of December, Metro expects to receive $29,250 from the Verizon contract. Also, Pepsi has contracted to be the first advertiser at University Station for the first quarter of 2009, which will generate $48,750 for Metro.

Titan Outdoor contracts with Metro to sell advertising space on the agency’s 1,300 buses, and will handle the tunnel advertising as well. Titan Outdoor also sells transit advertising in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco. The company’s national and local sales staff will market King County Metro Transit’s advertising opportunities to potential advertisers throughout the country. Verizon’s first ads in the Metro tunnel are part of a national campaign involving multiple transit agencies.