Fairfax County officials want to sell advertisements in more than 100 bus shelters throughout the county in the hopes of raising funds to support the local transit system.
The Board of Supervisors on Monday will hold a public hearing on whether to allow the ads at the stops for its growing Fairfax Connector service, which posted a record weekday ridership of 37,000 Wednesday when it offered a day of free rides.
Officials are uncertain of how much revenue the program would raise in a year, but are looking to Montgomery County where a similar advertising venture nets an annual $680,000, said Fairfax County Department of Transportation spokeswoman Beth Francis. The county already allows advertisements on the Connector buses themselves.
Under the plan, the county would contract with an advertising firm that would solicit the ads for 108 targeted bus stops, and at the same time build and maintain the shelters.
“It’s going to provide bus shelters and safety from the elements, and concrete paths for people with disabilities,” Francis said.
Altogether, Fairfax County has about 4,000 bus stops, many of which are in sore need of improvements.
The ad revenue also would be pumped back into the Connector system, part of a transportation department that officials are struggling to pay for during increasingly grim budget times.
At the same time, the Connector system is slowly replacing the more expensive Metrobus service to save money.
Routes in Chantilly and Centreville will be replaced by the local service in March 2009.
