I love taking the MAT Bus in Fargo, ND. Route 11 zips me from the north side of Fargo to downtown in mere minutes. With one transfer, I am on a direct route to West Acres Shopping Center. I enjoy this affordable, egalitarian method of transportation. I enjoy the people I meet, being greeted by the driver, being able to sit, look out the window and watch the city roll by.
Until recently, that was my impression of MAT Bus. But now, more and more MAT buses are completely wrapped with advertising that ruins the view. On a growing number of MAT buses that I ride, I can no longer pass the time by watching my city roll by.
I don't begrudge MAT Bus a bit of advertising revenue. I think a reasonable amount of ads can be an acceptable trade off, especially if the revenue sustains the system, keeps fares low and driver's wages competitive. But it has to be done right and with the rider in mind. There is a problem when the advertising comes at the expense of rider comfort and route orientation. When bus windows are wrapped in plastic, it's hard for riders to see out of the bus, and to orient themselves.
Around 80% of the American population is prone to motion sickness. The CDC suggests that people who get motion sickness should sit in a seat with a window. But what can you do if your window seat on a MAT bus looks like this?
How bad can a wrapped bus window be, really?
And in the morning, when the sun is low and hits your window, your view is even more obstructed.
Night time can be even worse, as the light in the bus is reflected back off of the plastic wrap. I'll add a photo of night riding on a wrapped bus just as soon as I take one. But trust me, its bad.
The best view a MAT Bus rider can hope for on a wrapped bus is to look dead on at the window, because an angled view through is even more obstructed. This is a photo I took at an angle through an ad wrapped MAT Bus window. Yes, it really does look this bad.
What can be done?
The first thing that should be done is for the people (administrators, city leaders) who make decisions regarding MAT Bus to actually ride MAT Bus before unintentionally degrading the experience. When I reached out to several Fargo city officials, they told me that they don't personally ride the bus. But, they only hear good things about the revenue that wrap ads provide. Certainly, bus ad sales people will only say good things about bus wraps. And a recent Fargo school design contest set forward criteria to judge student designed bus wraps, but there was no design consideration included to allow riders to see out of the bus. These sorts of decisions that impact the quality of the ride should, it would seem, include some real world research and input by actual bus riders. But this seems not to be the case.
While Fargo's MAT Bus seems intent to expand ads on buses, some cities across the country are rethinking it and ending advertising contracts. Albuquerque, NM has phased out bus advertising to address rider concerns with safety, to make the buses more inviting and inclusive, and to create a better unified identity for the city.
Here is the festive ART bus in Albuquerque. Windows are only partially obscured.
Other Considerations for Bus Wrap Advertising
During my investigation for this article, I learned of other concerns about Bus Wrap Ads.
In Norway, any kind of vehicle wrap advertising, including public transportation advertising, is prohibited.
Norwegian officials determined that passengers would have a hard time breaking a window that is covered with
a thick plastic decal in the event of an accident.
In Illinois, advertising on school buses was rejected because it makes the buses less identifiable to riders and car drivers, and also because reading the ads were deemed a distraction to car drivers that would increase the chance of collisions with cars.
While I don't expect advertising on MAT Bus to go away completely, it could be made much less annoying, less sickening, and less unsafe by simply requiring advertising designs that do not cover the ENTIRE window.
I have faith in the creative people to who design these ads to be able to accommodate the right of fare paying MAT Bus riders to view their fine city through an unobstructed window. I have faith in MAT Bus to consider the quality of the ride, and I believe the city commissioners don't want to drive riders away from MAT Bus by a sickening, obstructed view.
A rider with sensory issues from Buffalo, NY summed his feelings succinctly when he wrote: "I don't want to sit on the bus for over 30 minutes in the morning feeling like I'm in an enclosed freaking box. You can barely see through the ads, if at all, and it's seriously f*ing annoying. What am i supposed to look at for the entire time? I seriously can't even look out the window on a bus ride? ffs."
Conclusion
Transportation ad sales people will not numerate the problems of bus advertising, which include:
- A less comfortable and interesting ride for paying riders
- An increase in rider motion sickness
- Increase in rider feelings of claustrophobia
- Concerns about whether riders can escape in an emergency
- Increased distraction of car riders reading the ads
- Less recognizable city bus fleet
- Watering down the city's brand
- Possibility of ads that don't reflect well on the city, such as Bailbonds
- No or low visibility into activities on the bus by police
- Obscuring windows is not a benefit. It will only drive some away.
There are bus advertising options that do not require obstructing every window on the bus. Pullman Transit in Washington found success with partial wraps that leaves at least half of the windows free for riders.
Clearly, thare better ways to approach bus advertising without completely ruining the ride for MAT Bus riders.
It's time for the city and Mat Bus to do the right thing. Stop wrapping bus windows! Start allowing paying riders enjoy the view of their city.
