You’re sitting on the spanking new gorgeous Orange Line bus, the one that travels along the beautifully landscaped, fully dedicated Busway. It’s a sunny day, the bus is uncrowded, you decide to open the LA Times and catch up with the news on your way to North Hollywood.
As the bus gains speed, you suddenly are aware of an annoying intrusion of robotic sounding voices. It is called Transit TV and it broadcasts loudly into every Orange Line bus. There are advertisements for trade schools, banal weather and sports casters whose voice is automatically designed to increase in volume as the bus goes faster. You can no longer read your newspaper in peace or enjoy this brief moment of aloneness. You are a captive of TransitTV.
There is something insidious, rude and completely disrespectful in allowing a private company to install televisions in a bus. It is the polar opposite of an ipod because you cannot escape the drivel, you must endure it. It would be like Metro installing open bags of foul smelling dog doo in every bus. You would try and hold your nose, but the smell would get worse until the bus ride ended and then you would jump out and thank the Lord.
That is what Transit TV is: an assault on the senses.
Here in Van Nuys 
Let’s not forget about:
ACCIDENTES!
Dos Dos Dos, Dos Dos Dos Dos!
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Sadly, these crap-boxes are here to stay. Metro could void the contract, but they’d have to pay to do it.
Although, this has probably marked the first time since the streetcar era that advertisers wanted to buy ad space inside the buses. Before Transit TV, the only ads inside buses were for check cashing places and bail bondsmen.
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I think we all agree that Transit TV is an annoyance. It matters little to us transit riders if MTA is making money on the deal because our fares aren’t being reduced.
The only benefit are the interactive maps showing your location; however, the map is so small as to be unreadable by anyone further than a few feet away.
There has been a lot of talk over allowing advertising on the Red Line. If Transit TV is any indication, it won’t be a good deal for transit riders. MTA must focus on customer needs first.
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Andrew, this subject was ripe for the blogging, thank you. Nothing sooths the senses on a mid-week commute like someone YELLING at me, telling me to get my ass into nursing school.
In Spanish.
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Andrew,
I cannot agree with you more.
I suppose the thing to do is insist that all radios in the MTA fleet vehicles (you know, those sedans that board members and staff get to drive around) are made the property of some private firm that plays audio at a pre-selected volume, with pre-selected content.
I don’t mind the flashing lights of the screen, but the audio is simply too much.
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Ugh! Sounds awful (literally). I hope Metro ditches this “service” by the time I move to LA. At the very least, it could keep the video and offer the audio over a radio frequency for riders who want to tune in on headphones. After all, the airlines are already doing something like this. Imagine if they forced everyone to listen!
I suppose Metro might consider dumping this torture method if enough people complain. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a similar complaint on another LA blog or two. I for one would be willing to send in an e-mail of complaint, stating that I’m a future Metro user who prefers to ride in relative quiet.
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