DOING BUSINESS WITH METRO
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Bus Advertising
Advertising with METRO is a great way to target Santa Cruz County residents and visitors. With a population of over 275,000 residents as well as a large number of tourists who visit our county’s beaches and redwoods every year, your ads are sure to be seen by your prime demographic. In addition to Santa Cruz’s year-round population, the county also hosts roughly 20,000 UC Santa Cruz students and additional students attending Cabrillo College.
Established in 1968, METRO provides fixed-route and Highway 17 commuter service throughout Santa Cruz County, with limited service connecting to Monterey Salinas Transit at our Watsonville Transit Center and Santa Clara County. We transport more than 5 million passenger trips a year. METRO also operates ParaCruz paratransit service to Santa Cruz County, providing about 73,500 trips per year. Today METRO operates a fleet of 94 buses on at least 24 fixed routes.
For advertising inquiries or to confirm ad availability, email busads@scmtd.com
Rates & Sizes
Rates listed are per ad, per month net. Discounts are given based on the length of the contract. Mounting costs are a one-time additional fee upon installation, for longer-term contracts mounting costs will be applied to any new ad creative swapped out over the length of the contract.
Ad Sizes
| Ad Type | Size | Location |
|---|---|---|
| KING (FRAME OR VINYL) | 30” X 144” | STREET/DRIVER SIDE |
| QUEEN (FRAME OR VINYL) | 30” X 88” | CURB/PASSENGER LOADING SIDE |
| TAIL (FRAME OR VINYL) | 21” X 72” | BACK/REAR |
| SMALL TAIL (VINYL ONLY) | 12” x 40” | BACK/REAR |
| MINI TAIL (VINYL ONLY) | EMAIL FOR DETAILS | BACK/REAR |
| TOP RIM (VINYL ONLY) | EMAIL FOR DETAILS | TOP SIDE RIM PANELS |
| BIKE RACK (VINYL ONLY) | EMAIL FOR DETAILS | FRONT BIKE RACK |
| INTERIOR CAR CARDS | 11” x 17” | INTERIOR ADVERTISING |
| PARACRUZ ADS (VINYL ONLY) | 21” X 72” | STREET & CURB SIDE |
Ad Rates
| Ad Size | 1 Month Rate | 3 Month Rate 0% DISCOUNT | 6 Month Rate 10% DISCOUNT | 12 Month Rate 15% DISCOUNT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KING | $420 | $420 | $380 | $360 |
| QUEEN | $265 | $265 | $240 | $225 |
| TAIL | $440 | $440 | $395 | $375 |
| SMALL TAIL | $270 | $270 | $240 | $230 |
| MINI TAIL | $200 | $200 | $180 | $170 |
| TOP RIM | $300 | $300 | $270 | $255 |
| BIKE RACK | $130 | $130 | $115 | $110 |
| CAR CARDS | $25 | $23 | $22 | $20 |
| PARACRUZ VANS SIDES | $240 | $240 | $215 | $205 |
Frame Ad Mounting Costs
- King $75 per sign*
- Queen $50 per sign*
- Tail $35 per sign*
- Car Cards $5 per sign*
*One-time charge at install and campaign change
Vinyl mounting costs are determined by the print vendor.
Set-Up & Production
The advertiser is responsible for design, production, and printing of all advertisements. Before printing, your advertising creative must be reviewed and approved by METRO. Upon contract, METRO will notify you of whether your ad will be framed or vinyl. Mounting fees for framed ads will be added to your contract and installed by METRO. Vinyl ad installation will need to be paid for and arranged with the print vendor.
Contracting Opportunities
Vendor Information
METRO has partnered with Bonfire Interactive to create a procurement portal that will allow you to receive notifications of business opportunities and submit bids and proposals to METRO digitally.
Access our procurement portal: http://scmtd.bonfirehub.com
Even though you may have already registered as a vendor and may have done business with METRO in the past, you must re-register through the Bonfire portal to continue receiving notifications about contract opportunities related to your area of expertise. Registration is easy and free. Please be sure to select at least one, or more, NAICS codes for your business or organization. Our solicitations will be set up using those codes and will be matched to vendors and contractors with the same codes.
Click here for registration instructions: Vendor Registration
METRO is excited about the changes we have made to streamline our electronic bid process, and we look forward to continuing our good relationship with you. We appreciate your interest in us.
You can also continue to receive email notifications of any invitation for bid or request for proposal postings by subscribing to our free Mailchimp email notification service.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
The Board of Directors of Santa Cruz METRO has adopted a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Policy to promote the participation of disadvantaged business DBEs in all areas of contracting to the maximum extent practicable.
- Search for a certified DBE firm
(Hosted by the California Department of Transportation, Office of Business & Economic Opportunity) - Apply for DBE certification under the Unified Certification Program (UCP) of California
(Hosted by the California Department of Transportation, Office of Business & Economic Opportunity)
Protest Procedures
METRO’s Protest Procedures are available here.
Terms and Conditions
All authorized purchase orders issued by METRO are subject to METRO’s terms and conditions, which can be reviewed here.
Federally funded contracts are subject to the terms of a financial assistance contract between the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the United States Department of Transportation.
Requirements for FTA-Funded Contracts
Tenant Space
METRO leases retail space at the following transit centers:
- Watsonville Transit Center, 475 Rodriquez Street, Watsonville, California 95076
- One small retail space is currently available.
- Bart Cavallaro Transit Center, 246 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley, CA 95066
- Fully leased
For more information on leasing space at one of our Transit Centers, please contact us at (831) 426-6080 or properties@scmtd.com.