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Transit advertising--- Wrapped LRVs and Buses.

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[quote user="gardendance"] [quote user="Samantha"] DART wraps the buses because they are mostly used by low income people who lack the know how and political leverage to complain.  On the other hand, it has not wrapped the light rail vehicles because they tend to be used by middle class commuters who will complain and know how to do it.  [/quote] [quote user="Samantha"] Anyone remotely familiar with public transit operations knows that no single citizen can prevent a transit agency from screen painting the windows of its vehicles?  I can get the records regarding advertising revenues.  I can appeal the decision to the transit agency, the Board of Directors, or the city council that appointed the board, but I don't have the power to stop the agency from screen painting its vehicles.  [/quote]It seems to me that on the one hand you attribute DART's refraining from wrapping light rail windows on the potential of the clientele to complain better than the bus riders, primarily on class lines, but you still say that 1 person cannot make them do what one wants. That's at least a little bit inconsistent. No you don't have THE power to stop them, but you do have SOME power, and based on your first quote I have to conclude you think that DART is sensitive to the collective power of people who might not like wraps.I tend to attribute absence of wraps on rail to the fact that rail has less visibility. Once in a while the rail vehicle goes places such as tunnels and private right of way, where the advertisers targets can't see it, while buses, and streetcars, tend to stay in traffic. This means that fewer eyes get to look at the advertisement on the rail vehicle than the ad on the bus. What's the prevalence of side of the road vs tunnel, elevated, middle of the swamp or cornfield on the light rail lines where you think the agency bases its window covering ads or lack thereof, on rider income class?I agree that if wrapping the windows is a bad thing, then don't wrap the windows. Does anybody remember Pittsburgh's situation in the 60's and 70's? They had quite a few full carbody ads on their PCC's, and none on the buses. Did they cover the windows? Pittsburgh has lots of private right of way, but in those days all of those routes operated as streetcars downtown, so that may have helped convince the advertisers to pay for ad on the PCC's.[/quote]The DART Board and management are cognizant of the class difference between the majority of its bus riders and train riders.  The potential for complaints regarding advertising practices, while perhaps a consideration, was intended as an illustration of how different classes in the Dallas are treated, which a function in part of their ability to protest.  Poorer neighborhoods in Dallas do not have the clout of middle and upper class neighborhoods.  As stated the light rail vehicles are seen as the pride of the DART fleet.  This was told to me by a high ranking DART official, and squares with how the Dallas power structure tends to operate.  I lived in Dallas for more than 32 years.  Because of the nature of my work, I came in contact with many of the makers and shakers.  I got a feeling for how they think.    The DART Board does not believe it would send the right signal to paint advertisements on the light rail vehicles.  DART paints over vehicles used mostly by lower class people while not painting over vehicles used by middle class people.  You can draw whatever conclusions you like from this practice.I have ridden public transit for most of my life.  I am a keen observer.  I also back-up my observations with data analysis.  Remember, as I said, DART gave me ridership data on everyone of its bus and train routes.  I sliced and diced it extensively.  I have a pretty good idea of who uses the various segments of the DART system.  Over the years I have ridden every bus and train route in Dallas.  For the most part the class of people on the buses is dramatically different from the class of people on the trains, although there is some crossover.DART's light rail system runs above ground, with the exception of the roughly three mile Central Expressway tunnel.  The trains travel in a transit way through downtown, where they are seen by thousands of people every day.  If wrapping a vehicle was an effective advertising practice, the light rail trains have more visibility in Dallas and its surrounds than any bus.  In Austin I brought the impact of wrapping a transit vehicle to the attention of the executive of a civic organization that had bought a wrap on a Capital Metro's bus.  Shortly thereafter the ad was removed.
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