Bus ads to roll out in Austin ISD

Torres said Austin residents will likely begin seeing the ads in the fall of 2013. The ads will roll out on about 40 buses and bring in $43,200 in revenue in its first year. The contract proposes an initial term of three years with the option of renewal. By its third year, it will be implemented on about 200 buses and will bring in an estimated $216,000 in revenue. After five years, the board estimates that revenue would rise to $388,000.

Under the contract, the buses cannot display ads that promote religious institutions, the use of tobacco or alcohol, sexually-oriented businesses, political parties or "businesses that promote body art services," among others.

"We want ads that are informative to our students, that help promote a healthy lifestyle, healthy environment [and a] strong desire to be a good student, and we think there are a lot of ads out there that can fill our school buses with those types of promotions," Torres said.

Revenue from the ads are not yet earmarked for a potential use, but instead will go into the general fund, Torres said.

AISD received a proposal from Steep Creek in response to a request for a partner to: manage soliciting advertisers, pay all production and installation expenses, bill and collect funds from advertisers and remit a share of the revenue back to AISD. AISD looked to other Texas districts with bus ads to ensure AISD was being competitive, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said.