Astral, a division of Bell Media, announced Wednesday it has finalized a 10-year commercial agreement with the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC), in collaboration with Capitale Mobilité, to manage advertising on buses and transit shelters in Quebec City.
Under the contract — awarded to Astral following a call for proposals — new digital advertising screens will be installed, heated transit shelters will be modernized, and customer information screens will be replaced, a Bell Media press release said.
An RTC press release Tuesday said the agreement is worth nearly $52 million over 10 years.
“Astral is delighted to renew its long-standing partnership with RTC and Capitale Mobilité for the management of advertising on buses and transit shelters in Québec City,” Eliane Tremblay, director of real estate and business development for Astral, said in the press release. “Our expertise and close collaboration with Capitale Mobilité will allow us to invest strategically in the growth and development of high-performance digital and static advertising solutions. We are determined to increase revenue and offer a wider advertising inventory in this key market. This partnership is a guarantee of success for the future.”
“This agreement is an excellent example of how Capitale Mobilité can contribute to generating and optimizing revenue from the private sector for the benefit of public services. We will be happy, in the coming years, to continue our collaboration with the Astral team to find new ways to go even further in revenue generation,” said Michel de Mauraige, general manager of Capitale Mobilité.
Capitale Mobilité is a limited partnership established by the RTC to generate additional revenue and improve the experience of the public transit authority’s customers by enhancing the value of the RTC’s assets and setting up a mobility ecosystem for the benefit of citizens, according to the RTC’s press release.
“The RTC is pleased with this renewed and enhanced agreement between Astral and Capitale Mobilité,” Maude Mercier Larouche, president of the RTC, said in a statement. “Thanks to this strategic partnership, Capitale Mobilité will not only be able to generate recurring revenue to support public transit but also improve the user experience with modernized transit shelters and new digital tools. Thanks to the sustained revenue from this agreement, Capitale Mobilité will also be able to continue the development of the àVélo [bike-sharing] service, which occupies an increasingly important place in the sustainable mobility offer in Quebec City.”
