(01-12-2015, 02:04 PM)SammyOES Wrote: How are ads making the transit experience "much worse"? Are there really people not taking the bus because they have ads on them?
Yes. Window ad wraps make it more difficult to see out of the bus, especially at night and in poor weather. It means there's less scenery and it's harder to know where you are, and easier to become queasy.
(01-12-2015, 07:26 PM)schooner77 Wrote: Oh come on, that's creative and funny. If it helps keep the cost of transit down, I really can't see the harm.
The problem with "those are my tax dollars, dammit" attitudes is that it comes at the dignity of riders. Apparently it's OK for a public service to be degrading because it's public.
(01-12-2015, 02:04 PM)SammyOES Wrote: I don't use transit but I think its an important public service so I have no problem paying taxes to support it. But you lose me when you want me to pay more so that the buses look a bit prettier. Having ad-free buses doesn't seem like an important public service at all.
The image that an ad-cluttered bus system conveys is undignified. When most people are driving personal cars that don't have much more than bumper stickers, riding around in a moving billboard is not exactly very appealing. Moreover, transit buses essentially advertise the transit service itself, but they are a whole lot less useful at this task when the bus says "Kitchener Honda" instead of "Grand River Transit" with distinctive livery.
All of you who think exterior ads on buses are just dandy if it brings in any amount of money - would you like to see those big ION windows covered in wraps too? How about school buses?