CATS Eyes Ads
After leaving upwards of $11 million in potential advertising revenue on the table over the last decade, when former Transit Czar Ron Tober and the erstwhile braintrust of the Metropolitan Transit Commission perpetuated the charade that exterior ads on city buses was visual clutter that would ugly up Center City, it appears that commercialism might be back in play as a potential money-maker for the Charlotte Area Transit Systems.
The MTC on Wednesday night received a report that showed as much as $1.3 million a year could be generated through exterior ad placements on CATS buses. That’s not chump change for an agency that’s struggling with plummeting revenue from its dedicated sales tax for transit, and the potential for extra revenue apparently has erased any qualms about possible visual clutter the ads would create. Or, for that matter, how the ads might adversely impact CATS brand marketing.
The contention that having a uniformed fleet of buses and light-rail cars, all bearing the same design, color scheme and logo, would somehow increase ridership was another reason Tober & Company had balked at allowing exterior advertising to grace their vehicles. Because, apparently, there’s so much free-market competition floating around town for public transportation, that CATS needed to drive home its image as the main provider of such. CATS has for years allowed interior ads on city buses.
“I’ve never understood that,” said Charlotte City Councilmember Andy Dulin, concerning CATS’ brand-image marketing argument. “It’s not like they don’t have that market cornered. They’re the only game in town.”
Dulin, a Republican, said he’s been pushing CATS to run with exterior bus ads ever since he was first elected to council in 2005. He said it simply makes economic sense.
“It’s frustrating when you think of the potential revenue we’ve let slip through our fingers,” Dulin said. “I think the problem was always the transit folks were so proud of their buses, they just didn’t want anybody to think they’d be junking them up with ads.”
The MTC didn’t vote Wednesday on whether it would move forward allowing exterior bus ads – that decision isn’t expected until later this fall – but its members directed CATS to continue exploring options. Those could include allowing ads on both the interior and exterior of all buses and light-rail cars; on only light-rail cars; or on kiosks located at light-rail stations.
Considerable revenue could be had from any or all of those possibilities, with anywhere from $500,000 to $1.3 million generated annually from exterior ads on buses alone. Those would likely take the form of wraparound displays that have proved popular in other cities and actually made some decent coin for CATS earlier this year. The system pocketed about $14,000 from wraparound ads it sold on a few light-rail cars, which promoted the Charlotte Bobcats’ playoff run.
Similarly, CATS officials think expanding exterior ads for the system’s light-rail fleet could generate between $300,000 and $480,000, with nearly another $1 million coming from ads on kiosks at light-rail stations.
“As far as I’m concerned, they can have at it,” Dulin said. “We need to be looking for ways to generate revenue without always having to go back into the taxpayers’ pockets.”
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