Digital ads could be coming to backseat near you

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hopping into a taxi or Uber in Winnipeg might bring you face-to-face with digital advertisements in the near future.

The city’s public works committee voted to approve amendments to the vehicles for hire by-law Thursday to allow taxis, limousines and drivers with ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft to display digital advertising to riders.

While department manager Grant Heather said Winnipeg would be one of the first Canadian cities to bring in a digital ad program, the move will follow U.S. cities like New York City and Las Vegas, where ads are played on tablets fastened to the backs of seats.

“It’s really about providing an option for another revenue stream for that driver and vehicle owner,” he said at Thursday’s meeting. “You’ve got a bit of a captive audience … there’s an opportunity there.”

Regulations for the bylaw still need to be hammered out before the change can begin, including rules on the size of tablets, guidelines for content, and planning how the tablets are installed to ensure safe use and prevent them from being regularly broken.

The tablets wouldn’t just be used to sell ad space, Heather said. They could be used to share GPS information, emergency alerts, and resources for tourists — he suggested vehicles picking up passengers from the airport could place a welcome message from the mayor on their tablet as an example.

“The content has to (be in) good taste, has to be something that would be considered to the public good,” he said.

“(And) the technology allows for interruption of that so that the police can push out Red Dress Alerts, Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, things like that, notifications of things that people need to know.”

The vehicle-for-hire companies would be responsible for selling ad space, and the city would ensure those regulations are being met through an inspection and complaint-based system.

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) voted in favour of the change but stressed that the ads needed to be accessible for passengers, including the ability to turn off ads.

“If I’m in my taxi on my way here to city hall, I’m listening to my phone because I’m catching up on what’s going on, starting my day,” Eadie, who is legally blind, said. “I don’t want to hear that crap … I guess it’ll (need) assistance to turn it off.”

The tablets would be mutable by drivers and passengers, Heather said.

Digital advertising in vehicles for hire hasn’t always been received positively in other cities. In New York City, while taxis have long had digital ads, city council overturned a ban on digital ads in ride-hailing vehicles in 2024.

A Wall Street Journal article from April described taking an Uber or Lyft in the city as “one of the few ways that locals and tourists alike could escape the relentless creep of digital video advertising” and said a 2011 survey from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission found nearly a third of 22,000 residents described the Taxi TV program as their least favourite part of the cab experience.

Public works also approved changes to some fines for rule-breaking personal transportation providers, including $1,000 fines for breaking incoming digital advertising guidelines, and reducing some fines from $1,000 to $500.

Drivers who negotiate fares in excess of what should be charged and charge outside of the company’s fare schedule will be hit with a $500 ticket with a $250 early payment discount, instead of $1,000 with a $500 early payment discount. Failing to operate the meter when a negotiated fare is in place will warrant a $250 ticket, rather than a $1,000 ticket with a $500 early payment discount.

Heather said the change was made for “more minor” offences.

The report with the proposed amendments goes to council’s executive policy committee to be voted on next.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca