Request for Information (RFI) - On-Vehicle Advertising

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) is seeking input from out-of-home (OOH) industry stakeholders regarding industry standards for on-vehicle advertising system contracts with transit agencies, including how the use—or non-use—of vehicle windows in transit advertising is perceived to impact campaign effectiveness, advertiser demand, and overall market competitiveness. As RTD evaluates current and future approaches to advertising, it is important to ground policy decisions in industry-informed perspectives, including those of media owners, buyers, and measurement professionals.

The information collected will help RTD assess tradeoffs between advertising performance, measurement assumptions, and customer experience considerations, while ensuring alignment with prevailing OOH industry practices. Feedback from industry participants will support data-informed decision-making and provide context for how transit advertising formats are valued, measured, and positioned within the broader OOH marketplace.

In 2025, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) initiated a solicitation process to procure an on-vehicle advertising services contract intended to modernize and stabilize the District’s advertising program. That solicitation was subsequently terminated in the third quarter of 2025 as RTD reassessed program structure, market conditions, and policy alignment. Amidst the solicitation, RTD undertook a review of its commercial advertising framework to ensure consistency with Board direction, customer experience priorities, and long-term program objectives.

As part of that review, RTD Board of Directors updated RTD's Commercial Advertising Policy by prohibiting the use of window perforation for commercial advertising on RTD revenue vehicles in an effort to improve customer visibility and enhance the customer experience. The District is now seeking input from the out-of-home (OOH) industry to better understand current industry standards for revenue-sharing advertising services contracts in the transit space, including prevailing practices, measurement assumptions, and perceived impacts associated with window use in transit advertising.