The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutNB 1 IRV BUS SHELTERS 07-01-91NEW BUSINESS N0. 1 7-1-91 Inter -Com J ATE: JUNE 2 4 , 1991 t. TO: WILLIAM C. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER FROM: ROBERT S. LEDENDECKER, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS/CITY ENGINEER SUBJECT: CITY OF IRVINE BUS STOP SHELTERS RECOMMENDATION Pleasure of the City Council. BACKGROUND At the City Council meeting of June 3, 1991, Councilmember Prescott requested a staff report regarding the bus stop shelters being located within the right-of-way in the City of Irvine. DISCUSSION Pursuant to this request, staff contacted the City of Irvine Transportation Division regarding the shelters. The shelters in question belong to private advertising display bus shelter companies who responded to a Request for Proposal (RFP) prepared by the City of Irvine. There are currently two companies who have received City of Irvine approval (Metro Display Bus Stop Shelters and Target Enterprises). The companies both pay the City $150 per month for each shelter located in Irvine. In addition, all maintenance costs are borne by the individual companies. There are currently 28 of the advertising display bus stop shelters placed at various locations throughout Irvine. Prior approval must be obtained from the City for each shelter site and no shelters are located in residential neighborhoods. The City of Irvine shelters are constructed of a dark shaded plexiglass with two sides, a back and a roof. Pictures are attached. The City of Irvine does not have advance approval rights over the advertising displays; however, should the City disapprove of any specific display, it will be removed by the company within 24 hours. In addition, no alcohol or tobacco advertisements are allowed. The bus shelters vary in size and a minimum of 7 feet 4 inches is needed for placement of the shelters in the right-of-way. This would still allow 4 foot clearance to provide for handicap access. The primary source of energy for the shelters is solar power, although electricity is provided as a back-up. The companies are responsible for providing the electrical facilities. - All new developments such as the Tustin Ranch, are conditioned to provide bus shelters that adhere to the architecture of the surrounding developments. These shelters will contain no advertising signs. Currently, Section 9480 of the Tustin City Code (The Sign Code) expressly prohibits the placement of advertising bus benches in the public right-of-way. Since the Sign Code is currently being reviewed by the Planning Commission, the City Council might consider referring the matter to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation. Attached is a copy of an article from the June 25, 1991 Los Angeles Times, regarding the bus shelters for the Council's information. Bob Ledendecker atie Pitcher Director of Public Works/City Engineer Administrative Assistant BL:ccg:bus -fuF.1JDMT . aTLP*jgi Z.l . 'Me 1 . 1&;L; -p itfA Building aNiche in- B,.,-Shelters a Advertising: A 6 -by -4 -foot panel.can rent for $500 to $600 per month, more in a choice location. The ads reach consumers in areas where outdoor advertising is banned. By -CHRIS. WOODYARD TIMES STAFF WRITER IRVINE s president of:Southern California's largest bus shelter company, Jean Claude I.eRoyer knows about manufacturing and advertising. He also has learned a little about censorship. After some recent complaints, LeRoyer decided to pull the plug on a series of bus shelter ads for a rock -music radio station in several Orange County cities. The ads depicted a "flasher" in a raincoat confronting an elderly woman. "We're in an awkward position," said LeRoyer, who heads Bustop Shelters of California. "We have $20 million worth ..of bus shelters on the street and we don't want to jeopardize it for one advertisement." The canceled ad cost his company .140,000, but: LeRoyer said that's a small price to pay to make sure his firm maintains a good image. . Irvine -based Bustop and its two principal competitors—Target Media in Anaheim and Gannett Transit in Los Angeles -vie for contracts from Southern California transit districts to install bus shelters along major routes. "It's a win-win situation," said Bruce K. Seidel, managing general partner for Target Media. `.'It's proven that bus shelters promote rapid transit. The shelters are very visible." The bus shelter suppliers benefit by receiving revenue from the companies that place ads in the shelters. The cities not only get shelters built at no charge, to taxpayers, but also receive a one-time Please see NICHE, D8 MARK BOSTER /Los AWIes'nmes Jean Claude LeRoyer, president. of Bustop Shelters of California, in front of a Newport Beach shelter near Birch Street. Advertising space in shelters is sold. Orange CountyS&L Scoreboard Orange County's 24'savings and loans posted $68 million in net income for the first quarter this year. The same thrifts posted a profit in last year's first quarter, but the local industry then included several insolvent but still operating thrifts—such as Lincoln Savings & Loan in Irvine—that pushed overall earnings into the red by $92 Fluor Daniel Wm* Contract for Ven( L:l��s TUESDAY, JUNE 25,1991 /10C. L.A rES ORANGECOUNTY, Its -IE: Advertisers Pay W'ellfor.Space in Bu's Shelters r ...tinned from M ' payment, sometimes called a igning fee," plus monthly fee Zd tween...$75 to $150- a jelte , bus riders get a shady, spot in the urban wilderness. e the rest of the ad industry, e shelter companies have been • by the recession. Company ,executives say . business . is down to 10% in the past year. =Vertheless, the companies say*. ey are making progress in con- "cing companies of the effective- Mss of bus shelter marketing. �f' nothing else, shelters can ;ch . consumers in areas where . . *01er.1,7outdoor advertising is not pgrmitted. 1n cities in Orange -County and 'elsewhere in the ud,- . stringent zoning laws pav=esgnificantly reduced the bumber of billboards. "If an advertiser wants to cover Los Angeles and -Orange counties, It can't be done with traditional billboards; Seidel said. "You can do it with bus shelters;": I And cover it they do. Founded in . 4984, Bustop now has 2,000 shelters In '.Southern ;-California and Southern Nevada, about a sixth of in . Orange County. ' Target '•which j= been operating �. .975, has 350 shelters, mostly i Orange County. . N Gannett Transit, -a unit of Gan- ? nett Corp.'s outdoor billboard sub- idiary; entered the Southern Cali= iornia ' market:.for. bus • shelters Manufacturing planta in'.:Irvine can build Three years ago'. when it. bought �helter . Media : It . now has 1,500 shelters in Los Angeles, San Diego nett Transit boasts, for example, And Riverside counties. that it is backed by a huge corpora-: p Bus shelters . have been popular tion. LeRoyer. retorts; that Bustop: J!Dr years in Europe. But while bus is smaller and'can be more respo>t 13enches have been around fora sive to the needs:of customers.and't. "M WWM / LN A elft Times 14 bus shelters daily. ng time, the bus shelter concept , advertisers. d 'not catch 'on big in America All of the companies are trying: 'to `N07 E _ • No �ntil the 1970s and 1980s. LeRoyer, expand into new territflry: Seidel.: DEBT c Frenchman who saw the growing said Target Media .hopes to . add-. popularity of. shelters, in Paris, another 50 to 100 shelters this year:'; *orked for shelter companies in- Bustop has expanded into N, ew. York' and" Chicago . before'-, gas and has its'sights set on the SQA. coming' to Newport Beach and Francisco Bay -area. :.:: `:` • #ounding Bustop. The cities;.have . their. owa' de r . mands. Increasingly, the,bus 'steel-. 'i " NO rll It was tough going at first: ter companies. are being: -asked to • "The advertising agencies are produce custom=designed shelters very conservative and 7 they - go for certain- cities: Buena Park. offs-- with their media=television, radio, cials asked,for.copper-roofed shel- . newspapers," he- said. Gradually, . ters, - for example, and the city ofBroke bus shelter advertising began to Riverside - .wanted- its"' shelters gain respectability. --painted- the .. color• : mauve.* ;With a ' Both .LeRoyer and Target Me-' -- basic: shelter , already , costing . • ?'_'--idel credit the entrance of $3,000,. LeRoyer said he worries part of the nation's larg- that other cities may make similar es. .a company, with helping to demands for modifications, driving boost the industry's image. Says up manufacturing costs. *eidel: "When Gannett got into the Advertisers pay handsomely for business, it. gave it 'a stamp of the right to place their. posters in approval." shelters. The companies - charge. '<:MALE'; FEMALE 4 Executives of the three compa- between $500 and $600 per month 30...... rues sa com etition is fierce. Gan- for each 6 -by -4 -foot panel. SomeIs 40...."" SW Y P Y- P 40..:...5640 40........5540 high -visibility locations, such as airports, can command $1,100 a panel. The ads are not designed to reach bu8---riders or pedestrians but are aimed primarily at catching the attention of passing motorists. "We're vehicular. The shelters are at eye level," said, Doreen Roberts, vice president for Gannett Transit... As such, advertisers who may have lots of experience with TV, print media or billboards are hav- ing to learn a few new tricks about bus shelters. «O ne thing we have learned is to make the colors big and bright," said Bonnie Crail, execu- tive vice president for marketing at Ocean Pacific Sunwear in Tustin. The company logo must be placed in the upper half of the poster, she said, . or it can't be seen when someone parks a vehicle near the shelter. Crail said OP has been using bus shelter ads for about five years. to -reach young people at beaches where there are no billboards. "We 'generally like arteries that go to- ward the beach or where thete is a lot of young traffic," she said Ego Sportswear, a small • surf- wear company in Yorba Linda, said the posters work well at reaching customers in, particular cities where the company's apparel is . sold. "Basically. we want to throw our name out there," • said Ivory Sully, an Ego vice president. STERLING DEMO' - - CLEARANCE Original MSRP... s39,00p 2 199Q SLi'$.22499. 's.... #253929j 253929 # 268474 'Subiect to prior sale. plus tax. lic. b doc. 714/731-0990. McI,F,AN Rig=ui+w III a