Developing and Implementing a Transit Advertising Policy (2010)

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19 APPENDIX A: Advertisement Policy Survey The Transportation Research Board is in the process of conducting a comprehensive review and analysis of the advertising issues facing transportation agencies throughout the country. We ask that you respond to the attached questionnaire to enhance our understanding of the issues your agency encounters on a regular basis, as well as the policies you have in place to determine whether each proposed advertisement is content-appropriate for display. Please enlist a director or representative of the department responsible for marketing and/or ad- vertising to fill out the questionnaire below based upon agency-specific experiences they have en- countered. Feel free to include or attach any information you believe might assist us in our research even if it is not addressed directly in the questionnaire. We also welcome any guidance or sugges- tions you have to assist us in compiling a list of practical advice to other agencies of how to best overcome advertising-related obstacles. Thank you in advance for your input and prompt attention to this very important research project. Agency Name: ________________________________________________________________________ Name of Employee: ____________________________________________________________________ Job Title: _____________________________________________________________________________ Educational Background: _____________________________________________________________ Legal Training: YES NO (explain)____________________________________________________ How many years have you been with the agency? ________________________________________ 1. What category of advertisements does your agency solicit? (e.g. bus, train, bench, shelters) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________ 2. Do you have a written advertisement policy in effect? YES NO 3. Does your agency only solicit commercial advertising? YES NO 4. Does your policy restrict: a. Alcoholic beverages: YES NO b. Tobacco products: YES NO c. Products or advertisements related to human reproduction/sexuality (e.g. contraceptive products, pregnancy counseling, STD’s): YES NO

20 d. Adult-oriented products: YES NO e. Political advertising: YES NO f. Non-profit advertising: YES NO g. Unappealing or garish ad designs: YES NO h. Vulgar or offensive content: YES NO 5. Does your policy incorporate any other content-based restrictions? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What steps are taken to evaluate the content of the advertisements? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ a. What specific factors do you consider when deciding whether to accept or reject content? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 7. Have you ever cancelled, refused, or rejected any proposed advertising or even a portion of its content? Please cite specific examples ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ a. What reasoning (legal or otherwise) did you rely upon to reject the advertisement, if applicable? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 8. Have you ever been sued over a controversial advertisement? YES NO

21 If you answered yes, a. Facts surrounding lawsuit, venue, case name and caption: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ b. Legal issues involved: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ c. Disposition (i.e. settled, dismissed, verdict after trial, etc): ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________ 9. What legal hurdles do you regularly face when evaluating the content of transit advertising? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ a. Any consistent or recurring legal issues? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ b. Do you consider your agency to be classified as: i. Designated public forum: YES NO ii. Non-public forum: YES NO iii. Please explain: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ c. Have you ever encountered issues concerning: i. Vague policy instructions concerning how to evaluate advertisement or what constitutes per- missible content?

22 __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ii. Transit officials have too much discretion when determining what constitutes an acceptable advertisement? ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ d. Do you accept viewpoint discrimination in any form (a regulation is considered to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint when it attacks a particular individual’s or group’s message, as opposed to the mode in which that message is conveyed)? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ e. Have you amended your advertisement policy in any way as the result of any lawsuits filed against you, court decisions, or influence from other agencies? YES NO If yes, please explain ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ f. When compared to other advertising policies, do you consider your policy to be (circle one): i. Very restrictive on speech contained in advertisements ii. Moderately restrictive on speech contained in advertisements iii. Minimally restrictive on speech contained in advertisements 10. What do you consider to be the most challenging issues your agency faces in determining whether a proposed advertisement is content-appropriate for display? How do you presently handle these issues? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 11. What, if any, “best practices” do you recommend?

23 a. Transit advertising, in general ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ b. Formal transit advertising policies (e.g. essential elements, provisions, or omissions) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ c. Past successful or failed practices that you feel other agencies could benefit from knowing or avoiding? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ Additional Comments: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________ ******************************************************************************* Please attach a copy of your advertising policy with this questionnaire