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All Aboard The Lexus La Brea Station? Corporate Branding Hits Transit

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Not much gets a name these days without a corporate moniker attached to it (football stadiums, concert arenas, AEG's possible football stadium, etc), but a new trend is selling naming rights to transit stops. SmartPlanet reports that many transit agencies are selling or attempting to sell rights to their train stations—there’s already a subway stop in Brooklyn named after Barclay’s Bank and Philly has an AT&T stop on its subway system (that brought in $3 million). Chicago and Miami are also trying to rake in some dough by selling naming rights, with the Florida city charging up to $40,000 for corporate sponsorship of each of their Downtown skyway stations. "Some observers worry that rebranding transit stops may put the systems out of touch with the communities they serve, and even cause confusion among riders," reads the SmartPlanet piece. But money talks. Metro tells us they are considering naming rights for their stations--a report on the matter will be presented at a March board meeting.
· Mass Transit Agencies Consider Selling Naming Rights to Stations [SmartPlanet]