People Mover steps up advertising presence

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By: Laura Berman

The recorded, on-board voice of the People Mover — his name is Duane — will soon be announcing the renamed "MetroPCS Greektown Station."

In one of those moves that pundits would have once automatically denounced as blatant commercialism destructive to the image of a great city, the station formerly known as Greektown will be wrapped inside and, partially, outside in logo-wear for the cellular phone company. The color purple is likely to play a large, and likely garish, role.

But in Detroit's current environment, blatant commercialism is vaguely refreshing.

Consider the facts: MetroPCS signed a one-year, $10,000-a-month contract to dress up the station and name it. That's $120,000 a year in real money that can offset the very real costs of keeping the trains running every three minutes from 6 a.m. to midnight, in what has been a money-losing, occasionally ridiculed circuit since its inception 24 years ago this July.

As the only working sliver of Metro Detroit's otherwise imaginary mass transportation system, the People Mover keeps chugging along, subsidized by rider fees, state and federal subsidies and the city's contribution of $1.2 million a year.

Continued at: http://detnews.com/article/20110426/...#ixzz1KgzpNhHA

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There are 13 stops on the nearly three-mile track, which encompasses downtown Detroit.

According to the People Mover's website, advertisers can already buy space on the side of the people mover vehicles; in the stations; and on the stairwells; so why not the naming?
If city officials are able to sell each stop of the 24-year-old People Mover at the same price as Greektown Station, the sponsorships would annually bring in an estimated $1.56 million.

The idea of selling station naming rights also has caught the attention of officials involved with M1 Rail project, which is a light rail line planned to run along Woodward Ave. from Hart Plaza to the New Center area.

The Metro Times reports private investors have pledged about $125 million to the 9.3-mile rail line, which is anticipated to be running by 2015.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...n_from_sp.html