MTA Bans Alcohol Ads In Subways, Buses And Trains

NEW YORK CITY — The MTA Board voted Wednesday to ban alcohol advertising throughout its train and bus systems, sacrificing more than $2 million in revenue for what officials said is the public good.

Starting in January, the transit authority's advertising policy won't allow ads for alcohol products, similar to an existing ban on ads for tobacco. Any existing booze ads can stay up until their contracts with the MTA run out.

The move aims to avoid inadvertently encouraging underage drinking among young straphangers, according to board member Veronica Vanterpool's resolution that the board approved. Public health has shown a correlation between kids' exposure to alcohol ads and underage drinking.

"This is a good step forward, especially to not have the advertising where large numbers of various populations could see them and be influenced by them," MTA board member Ira R. Greenberg said Wednesday.

The ban only impacts ads for beer, wine and spirits, not those for events sponsored by alcohol companies or other products that contain alcohol, like cough syrup, said Helene Fromm, the MTA's general counsel.

The new policy clearly prohibits the ads on New York City subways and buses and the Long Island Rail Road. But it's unclear exactly how it will impact the Metro-North Railroad because New Jersey and Connecticut have partial authority over part of that system, officials said.

Advocates have been pushing the MTA to get rid of alcohol ads for at least a decade. Then-state Assemblyman Felix Ortiz proposed a bill banning them in public transit in 2007, the Village Voice reported that year.

Straphangers have also recently urged the board to change its policy to protect young commuters, the resolution says. About 5.6 percent of subway riders in May of this year were students, and 4.2 percent or LIRR riders are younger than 21.

The MTA's ban follows the lead of transit systems in other big cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit. MTA policy already prohibited ads promoting tobacco products, as well as any sexually explicit or violent ads. Alcohol ads comprised about 2 percent, or $2.8 million, of the MTA's total advertising revenue last year.

The MTA still sells booze at some Metro-North and LIRR stations, which board member Mitchell Pally said might send mixed messages to commuters given the new ad policy. Officials in other states have also expressed a desire to sell alcohol on Metro-North trains again, board members said.

"I will support this resolution because I think it's very important as a first step. I'm hopeful there will be other steps following," Pally said.

(Lead image by Spencer Platt / Staff / Getty Images)