If you were taking subway these days at bloor, you might have noticed lcd tvs installed on southern platform. next will be cp24-tv in trains and after that wi-fi in ttc :cheers:

www.onestoptoronto.com

TTC to go wireless with ads on subway

By SIMON AVERY
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

The TTC plans to be the first public transit system in North America to bring television and digital advertising onto its underground platforms and into its subway trains.

The Internet-based wireless network, which relies on the same Wi-Fi technology used to create ''hot spots'' for surfing the Web in cafes and airport lounges, will be deployed on a test basis this spring. Eventually, it could allow riders to use their own laptops or handheld computers on the subway.

It is being developed by Onestop Network -- a Toronto-based private firm that has just hired former premier Mike Harris as chairman -- with several partners.

"I think this has got great potential, not only here in Toronto but also across North America," said Mr. Harris, who joined Onestop in return for an equity stake in the company.

It plans to deliver "smart ads" as well as news, weather and continuing commuter updates from the Toronto Transit Commission.

The new form of advertising, aimed at a captive audience of about 850,000 people, will include customized messages based on the TTC rider's location.

So it will not just promote a pizza franchise, for example, but also give walking directions to the nearest pizza store.

Likewise, a cold day could mean ads for hot chocolate at the local coffee shop.

The ads will occupy half of each screen. On the other half, viewers will see news and weather information updated as the train passes through each station.

There will be four 17-inch screens in each car, and up to eight 40-inch screens on each platform.

CHUM Ltd. has agreed to provide feeds of its CityPulse24 news channel in return for special advertising rates.

With the average platform waiting time between three and four minutes, and the average train ride 17 minutes in length, a challenge will be to find the best way to engage viewers in short cycles. CHUM plans to use viewer feedback to help tailor the delivery of content and will also be looking at ways of creating interactive programming, said Susan Arthur, director of marketing for CHUM.

Grant Waddell, who looks after subway advertising for the TTC, said the service will begin a three-month trial in May or June and will be the first of its kind in North America. The TTC will invite public comments before making its final decision on the service, he said.

"This is a system that's going to change the face of advertising," said Michael Girgis, president and chief executive officer of Onestop.

TTC officials were unavailable to discuss other services that could eventually run on the wireless network, but analysts in the telecommunications industry said the real potential in the project lies with offering interactive services, which could allow people to connect their own computers to the network.

Eventually, Onestop hopes to add these kind of services and it is already working with a major phone company, said James Sbrolla, a partner in the project. "You're putting a computer on a train and can package onto it anything you want, and it's all on a wireless network."

Mr. Harris added, "This whole field is moving so quickly that what was deemed to be miraculous one year is routine the next, so [the potential] is unlimited."

In Montreal, BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada, the country's largest phone company, is conducting trials on the subway system to allow commuters to make phone calls from underground, using Bell's cellular network.

Onestop, which is still raising capital, is spending several million dollars on its infrastructure. The TTC will receive 10 per cent of ad revenue and is guaranteed a minimum of $750,000 over the life of the seven-year contract.

© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

and it has its own nymbies of course, dont look at the tv or your palm, let people stare at each other in the dark.

http://www.publicspace.ca/ttc

The TVs look great. Can't wait till its installed all over the system.

It's an interesting concept, we will just have to see how well it takes.

and it has its own nymbies of course, dont look at the tv or your palm, let people stare at each other in the dark.

http://www.publicspace.ca/ttc

What a bunch of fucking idiots. While browsing the rest of their site I came across this: http://www.publicspace.ca/postering.htm
http://www.publicspace.ca/images/postering-help-save.gif

So if it's private money paying for the ads then it's automatically BAD. But if a bunch of anarchists who want to put up shitloads of posters everywhere, even illegally, then it's okay?!? Fuck them.

Well, perhaps I can give an interesting perspective on this. I have experienced this system first hand. Some of the railways operating in Japan's GT(okyo)A have TVs in their trains. My reaction to these:

You're on the train for about 30 minutes from my station (in Yokohama) to the first really big station in Tokyo (the train is a hybrid commuter train operating through service on the subway network). The material on these TVs gets extremely old extremely fast. JR also has this on their Yamanote line and they don't do much better. The material changes weekly or biweekly, I haven't been able to tell. Either way, one 30 minute trip and you've seen it all. Even when the material is updated with a new week, it loses its appeal. Continue to wear your walkman or carry a pocket novel, because there will be nothing good on TV in the subway train or station.

Now, if you want an inovative form of advertising, how does using tunnel space sound? Crazy right, how the hell do you use static space from a moving subway? The answer is animation: There's an example of this on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, near Toranomon station. A long series of images are placed along the tunnel wall. As the train passes the series, it moves like a film reel, a motion advertisement without any technology apart from the illumination in the dark tunnel. THAT is what I call cool. Forget TVs in the subway car.

Re:TVs in the stations, the CP24 idea is not bad IMO. The wireless network inside the TTC I think isn't bad, but not as huge a market as people might be thinking. Remember that if you are not sitting down, you are not busting out a computer. Palm pilots are another matter, but I don't know how big that part of the market is. The biggest market is going completely over the heads of these Onestop tards, and that is cell phones, which Montreal is obviously paying attention to. Tokyo subways have cell phones work in the stations, even the INSANELY deep Oedo Line stations have signals. You don't have a signal between stations. Not a big loss considering how much the trains on the Tokyo network squeek, but annoying if you're trying to send a text message or e-mail from your mobile. Montreal is smart, and Harris has his two-faced head up his ass, some things never change.

Actually I would be worried about being overly bombarded with media. I think that we are already over saturated with the media as it is.

I think the news component is a great idea - especially because so many people are unaware of what's going on in the world these days.

@TRZ: There was an article about the animated tunnel ads a couple of months ago. I believe they will be trying it out in some of the TTC tunnels.


As for the TV's, my only concern is that they will be extremely distracting. A static ad is very different from a moving ad that you can see from the corner of your eye. I usually read on the subway, so I am worried when the walls and windows and everything starts flashing with bright colours to attract the eye, my peace and quiet on the subway will be disturbed and I will probably resort to sleeping instead getting some schoolwork done. I, of course, will continue to use the subway out of neccessity, but if car owners begin to feel the same way, they may return to their cars.

This may turn out fine, or it may end up biting the TTC on it's ass. We'll see.

@sk8r: That's awesome, I didn't know about that. I think it is important because tunnel's are in a sense wasted space (not true since it provides the ROW, but)

As for how distracting the TVs will be, it would likely depend on the size of the screen they use, as well as the brightness. The ones running Tokyo are "ignorable", most of the time, so it all depends on how they design it, it is not a given. It's a fine line though...

Wouldn't it be more useful if both news and train arrival information are available on these screens? Many cities already display the number of minutes it will take for subsequent trains to arrive.

Many buses in Hong Kong already have televisions on board buses. The programming is a mix of current events and entertainment. There will be a several minute current events clip (not today's news) followed by an MTV and possibly an excerpt from an interview. Programs change daily and a loop usually takes about an hour or so, which is long enough so passengers won't usually see it twice on the same trip. Unfortunately, both the upper and lower decks have TVs so in order to tune out you either have to wear headphones or sleep really soundly.

^ we could use that in NYC with the 6 line on off-peak hours, but I don't think thats too usefull in TO. Posted times are 2-5 minutes, thats not too long to wait. I once waited 25 minutes for an F train in NY. I think I almost burst a vein.

Singapore

All subway station concourses and platforms are fitted with Plasma Displays and LED Displays showing the next train arrival times, safety messages, date and time, train service messages and advertisements. All light rail station concourses and platforms have LED Displays showing next train arrival times and safety messages and other train service related information.

46 out of the 131 subway trains in service as well as all light rail trains in service are fitted with LCD Displays and LED Displays showing safety videos, date and time, advertisements and next station name and interchange options.


1,600 public buses have LCD Displays on them showing LIVE news broadcasts from Channel NewsAsia - A regional news channel based in Singapore - during peak hours. For the rest of the time, it shows comedies (30min episodes), music videos, commercials and other video productions.

The TTC will definitely benefit by these private sector partnerships, especially since the government hasn't been very friendly with funding in recent years. This shows that the private sector can help the TTC with its budget problems. When the government doesn't care, the only option left is to wait it out (which isn't becoming an option anymore) or seek some investors. The users will ultimately benefit.