(The following appeared on the Chicago Tribune website on February 9, 2009.)
CHICAGO — Starting Monday afternoon, Metra riders on the Fox Lake line will see a train car wrapped with the images of the four presidents with Illinois roots: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
The ad — which encourages viewers to visit the “presidential trails of Illinois” — is paid for by Clear Channel on behalf of the Illinois Bureau of Tourism. It’s a test run of a Metra ad program that the commuter train service says could generate tens of thousands of dollars per campaign. The CTA already has similar ads on trains.
“We’re exploring all opportunities to boost our non-fare revenue, which is important as we strive to maintain reasonable fares and keep our revenues in line with expenses,” said Philip Pagano, Metra’s executive director.
The wrapped car will be rotated among several Metra lines over the next four weeks.
Clear Channel Metra LLC, Metra’s advertising contractor, is conducting the test to see how well the vinyl material with a removable adhesive holds up on train runs in Chicago weather. Metra promises it won’t “significantly” block the views out of windows.