MBTA Considers Airing Audio Ads

The deep-in-debt MBTA is considering selling audio ads on its buses as a way to boost revenue.

T General Manager Richard Davey says the idea is in its preliminary stages. But if approved, the ads would be triggered by GPS technology. When a bus passes a particular business, an ad for that company would play over the vehicle's audio system.

They key, he tells The Boston Globe, is doing it without annoying passengers.

Ohio-based Commuter Advertising has launched similar programs with several transit authorities nationwide.

A previous effort to sell audio ads failed. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority launched T Radio in 2007, a mix of talk and music that played on platforms. But hundreds of complaints prompted T officials to kill the system before any ads were sold.