Regional Transportation District directors voted Tuesday night to ban the bright wrap-around advertisements that partially block views out windows on metro Denver buses and trains, resolving to give riders the same chance to see their surroundings as people in cars and make public transportation more appealing.
The prohibition means losing revenue at a time when the agency is grappling with financial constraints. RTD officials calculated that window-blocking ads brought in $786,000 between April and September this year, representing 42% of total ad revenue during that period.
Thousands of tiny holes, each half the size of a frozen pea, spread across RTD’s adhesive vinyl ad wraps allow riders enough visibility to know whether they’re nearing stops, but the ads obscure landscapes and prevent would-be riders outside buses and trains from assessing safety inside before boarding.
“It is worth the trade-off,” RTD Director Brett Paglieri said, campaigning for the ban as a step to help riders savor beauty.
Selling out RTD windows for commercial messaging “assumes us to be second-class citizens. We are equal to people who choose to drive private vehicles,” Paglieri said. “When you cannot see out the windows clearly, it denigrates the experience of riding. We want our riders to know we care about their experience.”
Read the full story from our partners at The Denver Post.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
