City Council: Green light for VBZ advertising streetcars
Five streetcars operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) have been driving around as fully painted advertising streetcars on a trial basis for three years. This will also be the case in the future: The city council has approved the definitive introduction of the commercial advertising streetcars, as it announced on Wednesday.
People - or at least the majority - like it, as a passenger survey showed at the end of the three-year trial. And it brings VBZ additional revenue. So far, it has been around 1.5 million francs per year, as VBZ sales manager Thomas Meier said when asked. The minimum rental period is half a year, but most people have booked "their" streetcar for a whole year, and some for an extension. Since the beginning of the test operation, the advertising rights had always been sold for all five streetcars, according to the statement. Bookings have already been made for 2014 as well, the statement says. VBZ deliberately limited itself to five advertising streetcars. In this way, the cityscape will continue to be dominated by the approximately 200 blue and white streetcars. In addition to the advertising streetcars, special streetcars such as the Märlitram or various Gastrotrams will also be in operation. (SDA)
