SOUTH BEND — If you're looking to advertise cigarettes, churches, politicians, guns or porn, don't even think about approaching Transpo. The public bus line for South Bend and Mishawaka adopted a policy Monday spelling out exactly the types of advertising Transpo will allow plastered on the sides of its fleet.

Transpo's board of directors voted unanimously to adopt the policy at its Monday meeting, the same day a contract ran out on controversial ads promoting atheism.

Those ads, which prompted complaint calls from mostly religious people to Transpo's general manager, Rick Brown, came down as planned on Monday.

They were delayed from display initially because of Transpo's ad contract, which allows the board to review controversial advertising. And it was then the board realized that term, “controversial,” was much too broad, board Chairman Chip Lewis said.

“Lack of a written policy meant we were wide open to any type of advertising,” he said.

Transpo makes $70,000 a year from advertising, an insubstantial amount of which will be lost under the new policy, Lewis said. Transpo's entire operating budget is about $11 million.

The heads of St. Joseph County's two major political parties, whose candidates have used bus-side advertising in the past, both said the policy is a mistake.

Contractor approved

Transpo accepted a $19 million bid from the South Bend-based Robert Henry Corp., to build the bus line's new operation's center.

That amount is about $1.7 million more than initial estimates on the project because Transpo added in the cost of shop equipment needed to work on buses, board Vice Chairman John Leszczynski said.

Robert Henry's bid was the lowest, said Brown, the general manager. The closest was about $150,000 more, he said.

Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353