Sacramento RT partnership with advertising firm makes rolling billboards of area’s light-rail cars

Have you noticed those sizable, colorful advertisements on the sides of light-rail cars rolling in and around Sacramento?

The hard-to-miss, eye-catching displays are the result of a recently formed partnership between the Sacramento Regional Transit District and Lamar Advertising Co., a national advertising firm based in Baton Rouge, La.

Advertising on Sacramento light-rail trains began Jan. 1, which Lamar said marked the first formal light-rail advertising program in Sacramento since 1997.

Light-rail trains serve 52 stations and 43 miles of track in the area, offering service throughout Sacramento, the Interstate 80/Highway 50 corridors, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and Elk Grove.

Lamar touts a double bonus for advertisers: The ads are visible not only to RT riders, but thousands of motorists and pedestrians who see the trains roll by regularly. That includes consumers at restaurants, local colleges, shopping areas, government buildings, business districts and near Golden 1 Center.

The partnership, “is a fun and creative way for advertisers to get their message out to the Sacramento region, and it fits within the new era of RT to be innovative in the way we connect with the public,” RT spokeswoman Devra Selenis said in an email.

The yards-long displays on the light-rail cars are made out of vinyl material “and are applied like a giant bumper sticker,” said Amy Mahon, market manager of Lamar Advertising of Sacramento. The Lamar-RT advertising campaign, which is open to local, regional and national brands, also includes display advertising on the interior of light-rail cars.

In addition to its new light-rail advertising formats, Lamar has provided advertising displays on 175 buses across more than 60 routes in Sacramento since July 2012.

Founded in 1902, Lamar bills itself as one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America, with more than 325,000 displays across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Lamar also offers standard and digital billboard advertising.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Sacramento RT partnership with advertising firm makes rolling billboards of area’s light-rail cars."