Athens Transit begins selling ads on its buses

From the Banner-Herald:

Hoping to make enough money from advertising to add routes and frequency without raising fares or taxes, Athens-Clarke officials will begin selling ads this week on the sides, back and interior of buses.
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The money could be enough to increase frequency on an hourly route to every half hour or run a couple more buses at night or on Saturdays.

Mass transit continues to become more popular. People made about 1.7 million trips on Athens buses in the past year, up almost 200,000 from 2006.

But fuel costs remain high, federal operating grants are flat, and the state offers no support, so the system is struggling for funding.

Fares will go up 25 cents to $1.50 on Wednesday. Even with the increased fares and anticipated ad revenue, though, the Athens-Clarke Commission did not expand bus service this year.