Electronic signs on city buses no place for promos: report

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This article was published 24/01/2024 (601 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Transit’s electronic bus signs may not be used to feature diverse cultural greetings after all.

In October, council’s public works committee directed Transit to explore options to mark diverse holidays and events on the digital signs on buses. A new report recommends eliminating all promotional messages instead.

“When a display has extra information that is unrelated to their trip, such as promotional messages, the customer has to wait until the information they need loops around again. This delay can cause anxiety and frustration for customers trying to make split-second decisions about which bus to take,” wrote Alissa Clark, Transit’s communications manager, in the report.

In an interview, Winnipeg Transit client services manager Teresa Platt said riders have complained they missed buses due to that issue.

“For every display, there’s a few seconds in which that (message) comes up on the bus and deters from the actual messaging of the routes or the locations,” said Platt.

Transit recommends discontinuing all promotional messages to focus on ensuring the signs display route and destination information only. Infrequent messages have included “Go Jets go!,” “Go Bombers go!,” “Grey Cup Champs” (for the Blue Bombers) and “Lest We Forget” (on Remembrance Day). The signs were also used to remind riders to wear masks, to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, to acknowledge Transit employee appreciation day and to note free rides on New Year’s Eve.

“While we only run a few promotional messages right now, if we were to add several more, we anticipate we would get more complaints. So, this is really just kind of a preventative measure and making sure that our passengers continue to get exactly what they need to make their trips as easy as possible,” said Clark, in an interview.

If council’s public works committee rejects the recommendation, the report notes two other options. The committee could direct Transit to display a list of nearly two dozen new cultural messages, which would include Black History Month, Louis Riel Day, Ramadan Mubarak, Pride Month, National Indigenous People’s Day, Hanukkah, Christmas and others.

The list is not exhaustive and transit would consider requests to add more messages to be inclusive, said Clark.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said his office has not received complaints about the status quo messages, so he would support the options to keep them or remove all promotional messages.

“If you start adding any additional messaging, we inevitably run the risk of leaving someone out and missing a community’s important event,” said Gillingham.

The mayor noted organizations can make requests through the city’s website to have the Winnipeg Sign lit up to mark important occasions.

He stressed it is important to ensure displays on buses offer clear communication about public transit.

“That should be its primary use,” said Gillingham.

Coun. Vivian Santos, who called on Transit to explore using the electronic signs to acknowledge cultural events, said she’s disappointed that may not happen.

“It’s just a bit of a disappointment but at the same time I can kind of understand… the other side of it, the accessibility issues,” said Santos.

Others suggested the city seek alternative ways to support cultural inclusion.

“There’s other ways we can meet our inclusiveness goals besides a digital transit sign that’s supposed to be directing people to the right bus,” said Katherine Breward, a University of Winnipeg associate business professor and diversity expert.

For example, Breward said the city could post diverse holiday messages inside buses.

“The needs of both groups can actually be met if we just leave the transit signs for their original purpose and celebrate the communities (in) other ways,” she said.

Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman, a clinical psychologist with the consulting firm Lead with Diversity, said the city should take greater steps toward inclusion.

“I think it’s a very tragic thing that we’re discussing the importance of a menial bus sign. The reason that’s important is there’s just simply a lack of anything else,” said Abdulrehman.

He has pushed the city to add eight to 10 diverse statutory holidays on a universal basis.

Last year, city council instead voted to ask the Manitoba government to change its employment standards code to let individual employees substitute existing statutory holidays for days most meaningful to them.

Abdulrehman said that effort misses out on providing cultural education through shared experiences, which he believes would help combat racism.

“We need to start to integrate and show truly what a multicultural city we are by showing every community as belonging,” he said.

Council’s public works committee will consider the Transit report on Jan. 30.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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