MTA bringing 40,000+ digital video ad screens to subway cars and stations
Digital screen rendering, courtesy MTA’s flickr
If you thought those ads in taxicabs were annoying, wait until you see what’s in store for NYC’s beleaguered subway riders. The Post reports that the MTA has just announced that they’ll be serving up ads on digital screens that will soon be appearing in subway stations and cars. Through a partnership with OUTFRONT Media, who will cover the $800 million installation, they plan to install nearly 14,000 screens in stations and platforms, 31,000 in 5,134 subway cars, and an additional 3,900 on LIRR and Metro North commuter trains.
Though some of these screens will, in fact, provide helpful information for commuters and lost tourists, we’ll also be forced to watch ads we can’t put clever sharpie additions and stickers on. But there’s a silver lining to this impending dark cloud. The MTA confirms that the ads won’t have sound–which is more than we can say for that beatboxing quartet.
According to the MTA, the screens will begin arriving by the end of 2019 and be fully installed by 2022. But we have a feeling that if they’re like most of what the MTA does to get our attention, there’s a good chance the average New Yorker won’t even notice them.
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This is EXACTLY what commuters need and have been waiting for for years! (sarcasm)
Even though the article claims Outfront Media will cover the $800MM cost (does that seem overly inflated to anyone else reading it?), I wonder how much revenue will this actually bring towards the MTA, and if they’ll take that revenue and put it towards a repair or installation of something which might make the commute for New Yorkers a little bit less miserable, such as working signals, climate controlled stations, etc, etc.