UPMC to spend $1.1 million on bus, LRV ads

Monday, October 02, 2006

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center which announced record profits in August will spend $1.1 million to help the Port Authority, which is facing record deficits.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette "Shrink wrap" advertisements have appeared on Port Authority buses for some time, but as of today they're on light-rail vehicles as well. Dave Galando, left, of Latrobe, and Randy Miller, of Salem, attach a UPMC ad to the side of an LRV Saturday. Click photo for larger image.

In essence, UPMC has bought short-term naming rights to 180 buses and 40 light-rail vehicles for the next six months, with an option to renew the deal for another six months.

UPMC and authority officials are to announce the advertising agreement at a news conference today.

The vehicles will be "shrink wrapped" with vinyl, a popular advertising technique. UPMC's message will be displayed on one side of the buses and both sides of the light-rail vehicles.

While shrink wraps have been a Port Authority advertising tool since the mid-1990s, LRVs have carried only interior ads since modern 80-foot-long cars replaced streetcars and the Downtown subway opened in the mid-1980s.

By spending its ad dollars with the transit agency, UPMC said in a news release, it is "reaching out to residents of Allegheny County while also strongly supporting the Port Authority and underscoring the importance of its services at a time when public transportation in Pennsylvania faces an acute funding crisis."

UPMC announced in August that its profits jumped 77 percent, to $512 million, during the past fiscal year. Special federal highway funds keeping the Port Authority afloat will run out Dec. 31, when it faces a record $31.5 million operating deficit for the last six months of the fiscal year.

The $1.1 million outlay is the single biggest advertising deal in the authority's history and will help mitigate the financial crisis somewhat.

"It's a tremendous commitment and demonstrates their understanding of the importance of public transportation," authority Chief Executive Officer Steve Bland said. "It's a great first step toward public-private partnerships and it's coming without all the [government] paperwork."

He noted that the Port Authority, the nation's 15th largest transit system, carries many UPMC employees and patients to hospital facilities in Oakland and elsewhere.

The 40 LRVs that will carry the UMPC ads represent about half of the fleet. Combined with ads already carried on 27 buses, UPMC's message will appear on a total of 207 buses, more than one-fifth of the bus fleet.

An advertising agency began shrink-wrapping the buses and LRVs over the weekend. The first ones are to be on the streets and rails this morning.