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Interactive bus can generate revenue Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Medford bus driver Debbie Cameron, of the Rogue Valley Transportation District, cleans up the Interactive Firefighters Bus before it starts its Medford-to-Ashland route. Other days the bus visits area schools and is used to teach children about fire safety and public transportation. RVTD hopes to market its interactive bus program to other cities. By Jessica Smith Hitting the road with its interactive bus program, the Rogue Valley Transportation District wants to put the marketing tool to work for its own coffers. With one interactive bus on the street in Grants Pass, and others being considered for cities such as Corvallis and Roseburg, RVTD stands to pull in a couple thousand dollars per year for each bus. "We realized we have something that we could share with other transportation agencies," said Sherrin Coleman, RVTD general manager. "We�re also practical enough to realize we could use this to generate revenue." The program, which features coaches brightly decorated with artwork from local school kids, is already a moneymaker in Jackson County. RVTD pulled in $60,000 last year from corporate sponsors. "If we can get that up to $100,000 a year, that�s another (bus) route," Coleman said. That�s not a lot of money, but Coleman said it�s enough to make a difference at RVTD, which has struggled to maintain service in recent years after the failure of several bond measures. Under licensing agreements with other transit districts, RVTD could earn upwards of $150 a month by permitting the use of its trademarked interactive bus program. Designed to stimulate community interest in mass transit, the program has drawn on corporate sponsors and area schoolchildren to decorate public coaches with hand-drawn portraits and pictures. Richard Smith, RVTD�s marketing director, began experimenting with the program five years ago, when he asked schoolchildren to draw Christmas decorations for one of the district�s buses. The program, he said, "has had a life of its own." The "Young at Heart" bus, which offers free bus service to schoolchildren who visit local retirement homes, was completed in July 1999. Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort unveiled a decorated bus in February 2000, though it�s no longer in use. And last July, Medford firefighters joined RVTD for the Firefighters Interactive Bus, which visits area schools to teach children about fire safety and public transportation. Dawn Pike, transit manager for Josephine County, said it was the fire engine red bus that caught her district�s attention. "When we saw the response it got ... we said we want to be a part of this," she added. In September, the Josephine Community Transit system rolled out its own "Young at Heart" minibus. According to Pike, ridership jumped 40 percent in the following months. "We really feel the bus has given us a strong presence in the community," Pike said. "People are now aware that public transit is available." According to Pike and officials at RVTD, the program offers a unique opportunity to involve the community in public transit at virtually no cost to the transit district. Corporate sponsors not only pay to "wrap" the buses with artwork, they also pay a monthly fee to the local agency to display their logos on the coaches. Sponsors such as Three Rivers Community Hospital and KOBI Channel 5 get to advertise to Grants Pass residents and the Josephine Community Transit system pulls in an extra $4,300 a year, Pike said. "It�s a win-win situation for everyone." Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.