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Ads get flashier at Harvard Square T stop

The T today turned on new digital ad screens at Harvard, in a move that could mean "millions of dollars of new advertising revenue for the MBTA in the coming years," the state Department of Transportation says.

Park Street Station, North Station and South Station will also get some of the large-screen TVs to beam ads and service info at the faces of commuters.

Harvard Station is equipped with three 70" Tri-Faced screens in a kiosk in the main atrium and five 55" Landscape Screens; one double-sided on the inbound platform and three single-sided across the track on the inbound platform.

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Comments

The T needs to do more of this. The state is not going to move on any meaningful proposals. There's no appetite for raising taxes or changing the funding model.

But the money has to come from somewhere. Why not advertising?

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and demand that the Legislature do something meaningful to address the funding problems or they'll shut down the system?

Depending upon "non fare" sources like advertising revenue to solve the financial morass the MBTA has become is akin to a homeowner stating "Oh, I've got a mortage payment due tomorrow. If I'm lucky, I can find enough coins in the furniture cushions to pay it."

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How about using the screens to also display useful info, say the departure times for all the buses serving the busway and the streets above?

Oh wait, there's no revenue-enhancing opportunity there, so never mind.

And let's hope the screens are better cleaned than this other lovely relic polluting the Harvard lobby.

IMAGE(http://oi47.tinypic.com/kajm2d.jpg)

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Or upgrade the restroom there.

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That backpack looks suspicious!

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I often take the 6am acela out of south station. At that time of day, there used to be a peaceful sense of quiet calm in the station as people started their day. On my most recent trip last week, the station is now filled with tacky and obtrusive audio beaming down from the large screen. This is progress? On my cab ride home I can't even turn off the audio that repeats every 20 seconds.

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I couldn't *believe* how annoying that is.

Do we really need to have "If You See Something, Say Something: The Movie" looping continuously at ear-splitting volume? On two separate screens which are out of sync so the voices talk over each other? It's disrespectful to rail passengers.

I'm going to send a complaint to [email protected] and I urge you to do the same.

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There's also an Amtrak Police terrorism video playing on a loop by the commuter rail/Amtrak ticketing windows.

Hey, be thankful we don't have to be reminded of the imminent terrorist attack as we ascend stairs on the T.

IMAGE(http://oi46.tinypic.com/3135f5u.jpg)

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(I mean MBTA's management, not the terrorists)

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I'd much rather have a sign than a blaring video.

NYC knows how to communicate effectively with passengers. When they do have occasional nag announcements, they keep them short -- under 5 seconds.

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"On my cab ride home I can't even turn off the audio that repeats every 20 seconds."

Oh, those awful screens in the back of the Boston cabs...It's those damn promos for Jimmy Kimmel that keep popping up (I despise him)...and has anyone also experienced that although you *CAN* turn the screens off (or at least stop the ABC promos, etc) that the touch-screen "off" button is VERY hard to make work? Is that done on purpose????

BTW - I notice TV screens are now up in JFK Station as well.

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Since they changed the ad in the tunnel between Harvard and Central about a year ago, it's getting harder and harder for me to remember that Coraline is opening in theaters in February 2009.

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Silly me, I thought theyd use it for something important, like countdowns for all the buses.

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I do object to audio. The MBTA is loud enough,already. The PSA loops are bad enough. The buskers [whom I have nothing personal against] can be incredibly annoying, especially at rush hour. And how about well paced visuals [with the OCCASIONAL audio PSA] telling people to try and act with courtesy in addition to watching their sh*t? It's a sad comment that adults especially, regardless of their socio-economic background, yawn and cough on crowded trains without covering their mouths, barge up and down stairs whichever way they please regardless of making way for people coming in the opposite direction [people should always stay to the right...go up and down stairs on the right], let people get off trains first, rather than acting like a herd of mindless sheep...not passive-aggressively or just selfishly moving slowly or not stepping out of the way of people when you decide to check you FB page.

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That's urban life you are describing; you could be describing NYC or DC or.... can you name a large city to which your narrative would not apply.

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I can name many. Like Helsinki and Oslo.

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raised in the city and Boston [the city]. In the not that distant past, the norm was for people to be more attentive, and they were [except for tourist]. And people by and large stayed to the right entering and exiting subway stations, let people off trains before barging on, there was far less passive aggressive behavior. And announcements were made asking people to be polite, transit workers would aggressively ask people to not crowd together, let people off before getting on,etc. And they made announcements telling people to watch their bag and wallets because there were pick pockets and thieves operating in the area. I'm not saying people were perfect! But, they were on average more attentive, less self-absorbed than they are today.

And the not covering your mouth when you cough or yawn really gets under my skin. Not just kids, or the 'uneducated', I see 95% of all people doing this. It's just basic politeness when you're around many strangers. People today seem to lack socialization.

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I've been around, and yes there are places where people tend to be more polite, if that's the word to use. And there are places where people are far more rude. Another poster mentioned Scandinavia; Scandinavians are almost robotic in public, VERY reserved. I'm sure there are very old cultural reasons for this. The U.S. is a very multicultural and diverse country by comparison. I don't expect attitudes to be like Scandinavian. We need a happy medium,though.

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the marketing types and their ongoing mission to force their tacky and wasteful messages into every aspect of our daily lives.

The sad thing is how willing we as a society are to let this intrusion continue to happen.

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Whenever someone asks how "we as a society let this happen," I ask you: so what are you doing about it beyond griping on UH?

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Seriously, it's almost 2019 A.D. The Blade Runner future is here.

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