INTRODUCTION

Transport Advertising, i.e. the placement of ads on buses and other vehicles and in bus shelters and train stations, is an effective medium for reaching an audience of all ages, backgrounds and incomes. This is therefore a business for advertisers but also an increasingly important source of supplementary commercial income for operators impacting also on its brand image and on the patronage of public transport. What’s more, vehicles and stations can become means to promote and communicate public transport itself to citizens and customers.

The 4th workshop on communication*, jointly organised by the EU Committee of UITP and Asstra with the support of the public transport companies ARST and CTM, will be therefore dedicated to exploring the potential of Transport Advertising as one of the most promising out-of-home media focusing on two main sub-themes: on the one hand, Transport Advertising will be analysed as a source of commercial revenues, on the other hand, it will be explored as medium for marketing and promoting collective mobility.

A - Transport Advertising as source of commercial revenues

Under this sub-theme, the most successful strategies developed by public transport operators to increase their non-fare income through Transport Advertising will be analysed. The key factors for profitably implementing and managing Transport Advertising will be explored with special focus on the legal, moral, operational, safety, economic and aesthetic factors that operators must take into account to make it a real business, at the same time safeguarding the transport service and the corporate image.

B - Transport Advertising as medium for marketing and promoting collective Mobility

Under this sub-theme, the use of public transport vehicles and stations to communicate the culture of collective mobility to citizens will be examined. Special attention will be placed on the type of messages that public transport operators are promoting to advertise itself and on the type of strategic alliances that can be developed with external partners (e.g. environmental, sports, cultural, social or professional organisations) to communicate joint messages in a win-win game.
The working sessions will be closed by a round table where the issue of financing sources supplementary to tickets revenues and compensations for public service requirements will be discussed in a broader perspective.