01-13-2015, 09:37 AM
I'm not a fan of admitting it, but when a bus is fully wrapped, I have missed seeing them as buses before, once even missed one because I thought it was an intercity bus or some advertising vehicle. Probably what would happen to someone in New York, surrounded by yellow taxi cabs, and fails to hail the cab that is dark brown or is wrapped in a beach and women in swimsuits.
Being on the bus, when weather is bad, when light is poor (such as going to and coming from work for riders during winter), or when you can't sit or stand in the right spot, you become blind to the outside world, and getting disoriented and lost is easy, for experienced riders, while being a huge barrier and risk for new riders.
In the end, the amount bus wraps do bring in is going to be on the order of 1% or less of all revenues, tax and fares and other supports. As an interesting comparison, it is also less money than we were supposed to save by letting median grass on certain roadways in the region grow taller in the mini-valleys around the roadway, and that was both unacceptable to drivers who would comment on it, and not at all worth the savings. Hmmm.
Being on the bus, when weather is bad, when light is poor (such as going to and coming from work for riders during winter), or when you can't sit or stand in the right spot, you become blind to the outside world, and getting disoriented and lost is easy, for experienced riders, while being a huge barrier and risk for new riders.
In the end, the amount bus wraps do bring in is going to be on the order of 1% or less of all revenues, tax and fares and other supports. As an interesting comparison, it is also less money than we were supposed to save by letting median grass on certain roadways in the region grow taller in the mini-valleys around the roadway, and that was both unacceptable to drivers who would comment on it, and not at all worth the savings. Hmmm.