I just want to look out the window when I’m on the bus. It’s one of the only things that makes riding Metro Transit bearable. But Metro Transit has to cover up the windows with ads, so the view is obscured by a fuzzy haze created by the advertising decals. I just want to tear those things off so I can see the world outside the noisy, crowded, diesel miasma-filled steel box… You suck Metro Transit, and so does advertising!
—Want to see the scenery
This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2009.
Those ads help to pay for the operation of the buses. If the buses had no ads on them, fares would be higher, and you wouldn’t be seeing all these expansion buses.
Read a book.
I’m so used to riding the link everyday I forgot what an ad on a bus looks like.
I’d rather deal with ads than pay five bucks per ride
I agree – I find buses with the ads over the windows really hard to see where I need to get off…
Generally I have landmarkers when I know I’m getting close, but if the windows are covered…I can’t make anything out.
On a 30-40 minute bus ride every day, I find I can’t read or anything if I’m on those buses, because I can’t easily glance up and see where we are.
I wholeheartedly agree that advertising dollars are important, but I’m sure there’s a compromise.
Blondevixen makes an excellent point, it is difficult to tell when your stop is coming up when the windows are partially obscured. This is expecially true when the bus is very crowded and people are standing, which makes it difficult to see the windshield when you’re seated and on rainy days when the windows inside the bus are fogged.
They hurt my eyes when I try to look out of them.
They are ANNOYING and hurt my eyes too. But it *is* better than paying 5 bucks/ride. *sigh*
Seriously, can’t they advertise the whole bus but leave the windows open? That would be a good compromise,no?
I love the wrap around ads and can see out of the window perfectly!
Don’t worry OP, you’re not missing much – the world outside is just, well, it’s just a noisy, crowded, exhaust-fumed ‘miasma’ of the concrete-filled city of Halifax…just one big beer parlour by-the-sea…
what else is a city filled with but concrete frosty?
I dunno, FTC, is this a riddle?
I hate them
The condoms do help pay the bills, and they’re not really so bad in the summer. Once winter comes and the buses get caked with salt within an hour on the road, visibility suffers bigtime. Also, the window behind the front door is never covered because then I’d never see that blind spot.
If it means that much to you OP, send the suggestion to the HRM call centre and/or your local councillor. CNIB recently put it on their list of suggestions to council to improve service for their members. If sighted individuals made a case too, I think council might budge on this one.