TTC deal opens door to station naming rights

A deal struck Wednesday between the Toronto Transit Commission and Pattison Outdoor Advertising has opened the door for the sale of TTC station names to sponsors.

The deal will guarantee the TTC $324 million over the next 12 years. In exchange, Pattison cansell advertising on TTC property, including vehicle ceilings.

The agreement also increases the number of streetcars and subway trains that will be wrapped in ads.

The most controversial element of the deal makes it possible for the TTC to sell subway station names to sponsors as a way to pay for station improvements.

For example, Ryerson University is interested in acquiring naming rights for Dundas subway station.

Rami Tabello of the Toronto Public Space Initiative voiced his opposition to the plan.

"This will turn the TTC into a joke," Tabello told CBC. "It's going to turn our civic identity and put a price tag on it. We need to say that our city is not for sale."

"TTC riders require the station to be named after the streets they're based on," he added. "If you take Dundas station and change it to Coca-Cola station, we lose our sense of place."

Geographic name would not vanish

But TTC chair Karen Stintz said any renamed stations would not overwrite their geographical name.

Stintz also said the agreement does not mean stations will receive product names overnight. Instead, she said the deal allows the TTC to "explore what naming rights might look like on subway stations."

"We're going to sit down and see if we can't put together a plan that would help us revitalize the station using a creative way of public-private partnership and naming rights to improve the station because we currently don't have the funds to do so."

Coun. Janet Davis said the deal goes too far, clearing the way for advertising "in every station, on the walls, outside of stations, on everything that moves. I just believe that this is far too much."