King County Metro allows advertising on its buses in order to raise revenue for service, with an advertising policy that governs what is allowable. On April 17, 2018, Metro updated one section of its policy regarding campaign advertising on buses.
It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time. We’ve always banned campaign advertising on our buses. Such advertising, which is available from a wide variety of sources, is often incompatible with the riding experience we seek to provide for our customers.
Under the revision, public issue advertising is still permitted, but all manner of advertising that promotes or opposes a particular candidate or elected office holder is excluded from our advertising program throughout the year. The addition to the category of advertising that is excluded under the policy is italicized here:
“Advertising that promotes, or opposes a political party, any person or group of persons holding federal, state or local government elected office, the election of any candidate or group of candidates for federal, state or local government offices, or initiatives, referendums or other ballot measures.
This change is simply recognition that campaigning occurs year-round now, and is not confined to a limited season. We’ve amended the policy to catch up with reality.