• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 14, 2001

For those buyers interested in reaching a unique audience who are subway riders, an unusual ad medium has sprung up (or down) in the Philadelphia market. Reported by Jane M. Von Bergen, a staff writer for the Phildelphia Inquirer, she says that as the media have become increasingly cluttered with advertising images, marketers have begun to look for innovative places for their messages. There are advertisements on tollbooths at the turnpike and on toilet stalls in public bathrooms.

Now PATCO High-Speed Line is testing a new advertising concept that creates a movie theater out of a darkened subway tunnel, reaching about 20,000 riders that travel twice a day through the PATCO system. And the Atlanta transit system is embarking on a three month trial reaching about 300,000 riders daily. "We're always on the lookout for new opportunities that will bring revenue into the system," said Thomas R. Hickey, PATCO's general manager. PATCO raises about $160,000 of its $3 million annual budget from selling advertisements in its stations.

Officials said advertisers could expect to pay between $35,000 and $250,000 a month, depending on commuter traffic and installation costs.

Read more about it here.