HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 06/17/2025 - Memorandum from Kaley Zeisel and Annabelle Phillips re Transfort Advertising Program Follow UpTransfort/Dial-A-Ride
6570 Portner Road
PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6620
transfortinfo@fcgov.com
CC: Madelene Shehan, Assistant City Attorney
Caryn Champine, Service Area Director – Planning, Development & Transportation
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MEMORANDUM
Date: June 12, 2025
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Drew Brooks, Service Area Deputy Director – Planning, Development & Transportation
From: Kaley Zeisel, Director – Transfort
Annabelle Phillips, Assistant Director – Transfort
Subject: Transfort Advertising Program Follow Up
BOTTOM LINE
After a several-year pause in commercial advertising, Transfort will execute a 5-year contract with
Street Media to provide commercial advertising services at bus stops and on buses. This contract is
expected to net Transfort $277,000 in the first contract year, with revenues increasing year over year. A
full table of revenue projections is included below.
SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
• The initial contract term will be 5 years.
• The contract includes provisions for both bus stop advertisements (shelters and benches) and
on-bus advertisements (interior and exterior of buses).
• Bench advertisements will be strictly limited in size to 2 feet by 6 feet, and in no case will ads be
allowed to extend past the top of the bench back.
• Partial wraps will be allowed on the exterior of buses.
• Transfort developed a new advertisement policy to include prohibitions on advertising content
such as firearms, alcohol, cannabis and smoking. The full policy can be found online at
RideTransfort.com.
• Transfort will retain approximately 20% of bus stop advertising spaces and some on-bus
advertising spaces to be used for Transfort and City Department messaging.
• Non-commercial messaging by government entities will be allowable through partnerships with
City Departments.
• Bus stops will continue to be maintained by Transfort staff; snow removal will continue to be
completed by Transfort staff and third-party contractors.
• The City Attorney’s Office was consulted throughout the process of developing the updated
advertising program.
Docusign Envelope ID: 316C9740-93DE-47D2-B2BB-7C879A11E5CF
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Table 1: Projected Advertising Revenues
Minimum Annual Guarantee (MAG) and Total Projected Revenue for Commercial Advertising
(Includes Both Bus Stop and On-Bus Advertising)
BACKGROUND
Prior to 2021, Transfort maintained contracts with a third-party contractor to manage an advertising
program for interior and exterior advertising on Transfort buses and advertising on shelters and
benches at Transfort bus stops, which also included bus stop maintenance. Those contracts permitted
only commercial advertising, and a small portion (10%) of non-site-specific advertising space was
reserved for Transfort-related notices.
As the contracts were ending, Transfort advertised a Request for Proposal (RFP) for similar advertising
and maintenance services, but Transfort was unable to reach an agreement with respondents and
declined to award a new contract at that time.
In 2022, Transfort removed commercial advertising and began exploring alternative advertising
programs. At that point, Transfort installed City-related ads and assumed the costs and responsibilities
of ongoing bus stop maintenance and snow removal, at approximately $350,000 annually. Transfort
also assumed responsibility for purchasing and installing amenities, which has been primarily funded
through federal and state grants.
Between 2022 and 2024, Transfort researched and vetted several advertising options, including
maintaining an in-house ‘government-speech-only’ advertising program with City staff. Staff determined
that annual revenue from an internally managed government-speech program would likely be very low
and that this model was not feasible based on the cost to administer the program. Transfort also
explored returning to a commercial advertising model and a hybrid model that allowed both commercial
and government speech advertising.
A pause in advertising on buses and at bus stops led to a decrease in Transfort revenue streams by
approximately $300,000 annually. Staff recommended a return to a commercial advertising model at a
City Council Work Session on September 3, 2024, with some changes to the previous advertising
model, including strict limit on advertisement size at benches and more opportunities for non-
commercial messages.
Docusign Envelope ID: 316C9740-93DE-47D2-B2BB-7C879A11E5CF
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SUMMARY OF CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS ADVERTISING PROGRAM
On-Bus Advertising
• Partial wraps will be allowed on up to 60% of the bus fleet and will consist of two types:
o “King Kong” ads will be limited in size to between wheel well to wheel well.
o “Larger than Life” ads are smaller panel ads with additional decals extending from that
panel.
• Exterior advertising will not be allowed on MAX or HORN buses. Wraps will be prohibited from
the tail end of buses, though standard size ad panels will be allowed on tails. Wrap material and
style will be optimized to allow for visibility from windows.
• The remaining 40% of the fleet will be limited to standard size panels on the exterior of buses.
• Allowing for partial wraps on exterior of buses increased minimum annual guaranteed revenue
by almost $100,000 annually, compared with limiting exterior advertising to standard size panels
alone.
• Example pictures are included below.
Bus Stop Advertising
• Advertising on bench backs will be strictly limited in size to 2 foot by 6 foot panels and under no
circumstances will advertising be allowed to extend beyond the footprint of the existing panel.
• Bus stop maintenance, including general clean up and trash removal, will continue to be
provided by Transfort’s Facilities Maintenance team. Snow removal is completed by a
combination of Transfort staff and a contracted third party. Under the new advertising contract,
Street Media will not be responsible for maintaining bus stops.
All Advertising
• Transfort staff drafted an updated advertising policy, which can be found online at
RideTransfort.com. The updated policy prohibits advertising related to topics, including but not
limited to, alcohol, cannabis, firearms, tobacco/smoking, mature content, false or misleading
content, illegal activities or content, and profane subject matters.
• Street Media will submit all ads to Transfort staff for pre-approval before being installed.
• Opportunities for non-commercial messages will be available in two ways:
o Transfort has retained approximately 20% of bus stop advertising and a small portion of
on-bus advertising for Transfort and City department advertising. Previously, Transfort
only had 10% of advertising spaces reserved for Transfort messaging only.
o Government entities outside the City will have opportunities for non-commercial
messaging through partnerships with City departments.
Docusign Envelope ID: 316C9740-93DE-47D2-B2BB-7C879A11E5CF
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EXAMPLES OF EXTERIOR ON-BUS ADVERTISING
• “King Kong” ad:
• “Larger than Life” ad:
• Standard size ad panel:
Docusign Envelope ID: 316C9740-93DE-47D2-B2BB-7C879A11E5CF