By Steve Hymon, January 29, 2015
The Metro Board of Directors held their January meeting this morning. It wasn’t a very busy agenda but some of the actions taken included:
•Item 72. The Board approved a 12-month pilot program with Google to place advertising on the Metro.net website while also asking staff to study issuing a request-for-proposals for a longer-term contract. The ads are expected to generate about $350,000 in revenue to Metro during the pilot period with no cost to Metro. Ads must adhere to Metro standards and will mostly appear in sidebars of web pages or at the bottom of the page (no pop ups). The ads are expected to appear on the website within 30 days. Metro staff report
•Item 79. The Board voted 7 to 5 to approve a one-year contract extension option with Outfront Media (formerly CBS Outdoors) to place advertising on Metro buses, trains and facilities as offered in a substitute motion by Board Member Michael D. Antonovich. The approval canceled consideration of the original motion to instead issue a new RFP for an advertising contract.
In a presentation, Outfront Media showed some ways that up to $1 million in additional annual ad revenue could be raised, including placing ads on the front of buses, putting more posters in rail stations, adding digital signage to rail stations, expanded coverage of bus and train windows with ads, selling line and station naming rights and putting ‘media streamers’ in trains (i.e. video monitors).
During the discussion, Board Chair Eric Garcetti said some
of those ideas may be considered but he had concerns about some of them
— specifically mentioning that certain type of ads (such as those
promoting alcohol) should not be on the Metro system.
•Item 77. The Board approved a resolution supporting a bid for Los Angeles County to host the World Fair from 2022 to 2024. Resolution
•Item 54. The Board approved an $8.2-million contract
increase to replace five of the nine escalators at the Red/Purple Line
Pershing Square Station and bring them up to the new standards of the
American Public Transit Assn. Staff report
•Item 22. The Board approved revising a joint development
agreement with MacArthur Park Metro, LLC, which is trying to build 81
units of affordable apartments and 6,00o to 12,000 square feet of retail
on 1.8 acres above the Red/Purple Line’s Westlake/MacArthur Park
Station. If the developer can secure the money to build the project, the
north portal would be relocated as part of the deal. Staff report