New York City Transit has started putting ads on the exterior of subway cars.
The 42nd Street Shuttle – which is already the system’s test line for ad media – is running with Continental Airlines posters on the side of some trains much like the posters on city buses.
The exterior signs are intended to complement the so-called “brand cars” in which nearly the entire interior is wrapped in ads for advertisers.
“We’re looking at the potential of that element of advertising on our ‘brand cars,’ ” said Roco Krsulic, the director of real estate for the MTA.
Exterior advertising is one sign of a recent MTA push for ad revenue that has grown to more than $105 million last year – almost three times the $37 million the MTA raised in 1997.