CTA to expand digital advertising display network

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has partnered with a media company to add 130 more digital advertising displays across its rail system over the next two years. The aim: to provide more riders with real-time service alerts and information, and to generate new revenue for the agency.

In addition to adding new screens, 159 of the CTA’s existing 283 digital advertising displays will be upgraded. A new feature that will be available on both the new and updated screens is dedicated screen space for CTA service information, such as service alerts and Train Tracker information that is continuously displayed alongside advertisements.

Beginning this summer and concluding at 2018’s end — and at no cost to the CTA — the new digital displays will be installed. They will include platform displays and “urban panel” displays that are located outside station entrances, according to a press release. Concurrently, about 60 percent of the existing advertising displays will be upgraded, costs for which will be deducted from advertising revenue.

The expansion and upgrade of CTA’s digital advertising display network is part of an amendment to its contract with Intersection, which has exclusive advertising rights on all CTA vehicles and properties.

“One of my top priorities is to continually seek out new ways of improving the customer experience and make taking public transit the most logical, easy and convenient travel option,” said CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. “The expansion of our digital advertising leverages this vision, as all the displays will provide our riders a valuable service in alerting them to any changes in service and also informing them of when the next train is arriving.”

In 2016, advertising on buses, trains and at stations generated more than $27 million for the CTA.