Department of Transportation Services

Advertising on TheBus

Here you'll find information about advertising on TheBus. Please download an Advertising Packet (1.2MB PDF) for more information, including required forms.

It Works!

The Peace Corps launched their annual recruitment campaign from January to February of 2008, advertising with TheBus for the first time. Their overall recruitment for O‘ahu went up 170% from 2007 for the same period. Of these new recruits, 44% said they were directed to the Peace Corps because they saw the advertisement on TheBus.

TheBus

The City and County of Honolulu's TheBus System welcomed nearly 70 million passenger boardings in 2007. It is the 20th most utilized transit system, and the 13th most utilized bus fleet in the country.

Our 531 buses operate 101 bus routes on O‘ahu's streets and cover streets from Mākaha to Makapu‘u, Waikīkī to Turtle Bay. TheBus has won the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) award for America's Best Transit System in 1994-1995, and again in 2000-2001.

TheBus Passenger

The following data was taken from the most recent passenger survey and highlights a few of our passenger characteristics.

• 61% were female, 39% were male.
• 62% were employed
  • 44% full-time, 18% part-time.
• 28% were students.
• 93% were residents, indicating they were not visitors.
• 62% had been riding TheBus for more than 2 years.
• 20% had been riding for more than 15 years.
• 75% indicated they had a vehicle in their household, and chose to use public transportation.

An average of 25,000 visitors used TheBus on a daily basis. The Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau figures indicate that 47% of Japanese visitors and 21% of Mainland visitors ride TheBus while in Hawai‘i (Fall 2004).

TheBus had an average weekly ridership of 225,000 passengers in 2007, and more than 600,000 bus passes were sold. These include Adult, Youth, Senior, U-Pass (University of Hawai‘i faculty and students), and Disability passes.

Over 28,000 of our Adult passes are purchased by local businesses providing bus passes to their employees in lieu of parking. There are 128 businesses participating in this program.

Getting Started

The process of getting your message on TheBus is quick and simple.

• Send a letter requesting advertising space on TheBus to:

  Director of Department of Transportation Services

  City & County of Honolulu

  Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building

  650 South King Street, Third Floor

  Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813-3017

  Let us know in your letter the date(s) you would like to post your advertisement.

• Submit a sample of your advertisement for approval prior to printing your ads. You can e-mail a JPEG or PDF file.
• If you are submitting a paid advertisement, include a notarized Advertising Agreement (available in Advertising Packet) and payment. Checks should be made out to "City and County of Honolulu." No tax is charged.
• If you are a non-profit organization submitting a request for one month (30 days) of free space, include proof of your 501(c)3 tax exempt status.
• If you are a government agency submitting a request for one month (30 days) of free space, please have your director submit the request.

Rates

The rates have been updated as of 2007. Effective January 2009, the advertising rate will be $13.00 per space per month. Each space is 11" high by 28" long.

Some Tips:

• Remember to get the Advertising Agreement (available in Advertising Packet) notarized.
• Submitting all the paperwork at the same time can help streamline the process.

Non-Profit Ads

The City allows non-profit organizations to post one bus placard on every bus for one month (30 days) for free, once a year. If you have received a 501(c)3 tax exempt status from the IRS, you may take advantage of the one month free advertising program.

The process for getting your advertisement on TheBus begins by submitting a formal letter of request for space to the Director of Transportation Services. Advertisements being posted under the one month (30 days) free option are on a first-come, first-served basis.

There are some other differences between paid ads and the free non-profit ads which are considered PSAs. A full description of the differences can be found in the department's Rules and Regulations, a summary of which is provided in the Resources section of the Advertising Packet.

Some Tips:

• In your letter of request, identify your organization as a non-profit wishing to use your one month (30 days) of free advertising space for the year.
• Please remember to include a copy of your 501(c)3.
• If you have a specific posting date in mind, let us know as soon as possible so we can do our best to accommodate you.
• To take advantage of the free posting no corporate names or logos are allowed on the placards.

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