Item 13 - Award an Agreement for Managment of Ad Services at Bus Stops

Home Browse Search

Agreement for Bus Stop Advertising February 17, 2026 Page 2 not include a maintenance function. Maintenance at the City's bus stops will be provided separately through the Clean Cities Program; a more comprehensive program provided through the City's existing refuse agreement with Republic Services, which includes bus stop cleaning services at no additional cost to the City. Separating advertising services from maintenance responsibilities represents a change from the prior contract structure, however, this approach aligns with industry practice among comparable municipalities and allows each contractor to focus on its core expertise. Under this structure, the City receives guaranteed advertising revenue that is no longer offset by maintenance costs. DISCUSSION The City of Santa Ana is a major user of Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) bus services, with 24 active bus routes and 648 bus stops located throughout the City. These routes support an estimated 29,000 average weekday passenger boardings. The Public Works Agency (PWA) is responsible for maintaining all bus stop amenities, including shelters, benches, and trash receptacles. Maintenance activities include routine trash collection and power washing, as well as the repair or replacement of damaged furniture, lighting, and decorative or artistic elements at bus stops. Maintenance needs are not uniform across the City, as certain routes or corridors require more frequent or enhanced maintenance due to higher usage levels and incidents of vandalism. On January 18, 2022, the City Council awarded an agreement to Focus Media Group, Inc. (FMG) for bus shelter maintenance and advertising services. In June 2024, FMG announced that it had been acquired by Creative Outdoor Advertising (COA), which subsequently assumed all of FMC's contractual agreements, including the agreement with the City. Under the agreement, advertising revenue was intended to fully offset the cost of bus shelter maintenance with any net revenue being remitted to the City on an established revenue -sharing structure. The revenue share agreement would provide the City 25% of gross revenue advertisement sales minus the cost of maintaining the bus stops. However, actual maintenance costs exceeded the level of service that could be supported by the advertising revenue alone, and to date, the City has not received any advertising revenue under this agreement. At the time of the original procurement, the Request for Proposals sought a single contractor to provide bus shelter maintenance, advertising sales, and installation and management of billboards. Under that procurement structure, FMG was effectively the only proposer willing to assume responsibility for the maintenance obligations in addition to advertising services. Major outdoor advertising and billboard companies expressed limited interest in submitting proposals because the solicitation required firms to provide both maintenance and advertising services to bus stops as well as to billboards, whereas many advertising firms specialize solely in advertising sales and asset management at bus stops or at billboards and do not operate maintenance programs.