LTA looks to consolidate bus ad management under one operator

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is looking to consolidate the management of advertisements on public buses as well as at terminals and interchanges under a single operator. 

This is expected to boost advertising revenue because of the wider reach the advertising operator will be able to offer and economies of scale, an LTA spokesperson said when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. 

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"Advertising operations for buses, bus terminals and interchanges are currently managed by Public Transport Operators. This tender will consolidate the management of advertising for these assets under a single advertising operator," they added. 

LTA added that more details will be announced when the tender is awarded in Q1 2025.

Currently, ad spaces on buses and in interchanges are reportedly managed by SBS Transit (SBST), SMRT, Tower Transit Singapore and Go-Ahead Singapore. They then appoint their own partners, according to The Straits Times (ST). Stellar Ace, SMRT's advertising arm, handles its bus ads while ComfortDelGro’s advertising arm Moove Media handles the advertising for the other three bus operators. 

The public bus system in Singapore currently uses a contracting model where operators bid for contracts and are then paid by LTA to run the services, according to ST. LTA will then keep the fares while operators get to keep non-fare revenue which includes income earned from advertising and also from renting out commercial spaces in interchanges.

Rail operators also run non-transit businesses, but the government began reviewing this practice in 2017, said ST. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more information.

Separately, early this year, The Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that it was exploring the use of under-viaduct sites adjacent to selected MRT stations for commercial and community uses, according to GeBIZ documents seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE at the time. Currently, these plots of land are managed by various government agencies.

In tender documents, LTA said that it was looking for a property valuer to value the open market rental of under-viaduct sites adjacent to Yishun MRT and Choa Chu Kang MRT.

The property valuer should be able to advise the authorities on the open market rental of these two sites, it said. These will be determined by overall market conditions and planned uses for both sites.

It is also looking at construction to commence in January 2025 for a period of two years.

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