After years of delays, bus advertisements are coming to Saigon. The pilot project, which will take place on 10 routes, was supposed to have launched 2 years ago but never made it past the planning stage.
The new sense of urgency may be a reaction to increased subsidies provided to bus operators, which have risen from $26.8 million in 2008 to $65.86 million in 2013.
According to Thanh Nien:
“Duong Hong Thanh, vice director of HCMC Department of Transport, told a meeting last week that 156 buses on 10 routes will take part in the one-year project that is now awaiting approval from the municipal People’s Committee.
After that, the department will ask for the municipal authorities’ permission to launch a full-scale project, Thanh said.
Under the new project, which was designed to bring in more revenue for bus operators, companies will bid on rights to advertise on buses, Thanh said.
The official, however, did not reveal estimated revenues that the city will be able to earn from the advertisements.”
In 2008, Chief of the city's Road Transport Management Division Le Trung Tinh estimated that the city could earn around $4.7 million a year from bus ads, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported at the time.
HCMC’s ban on public bus ads began in 2002 with concerns that they would distract drivers and blemish the city’s beauty.
That must have been before there were ads on pretty much everything other than busses.
Whatever, it’s cool, we’ll just sit quietly and enjoy the free WIFI.
