Hours of Operation:
Mon-Thurs 10am-10pm
Fri 10am-6pm
Sun 12pm-10pm
| Bus signs are a remarkably effective way to convey your message to the ever-growing number of campus commuters, including students, faculty and staff. |  |
Basic Description and Eligibility
Advertisers may reserve advertising space on the blue campus buses on a week-by-week basis. The minimum reservation is one week; the maximum reservation is one semester. Advertisers create their designs, print and glue them to poster board, and submit them to SORC staff before the deadline, and SORC drivers place canvases on 30 buses.
Reservation requests are taken online so that we may maintain a fair hierarchy. First-time users are strongly encouraged to read the entire contents of this page before submitting the online request.
We are currently accepting reservation requests from now January 2012.
Online space request form: click here
Availability
Buses are large enough to accommodate 28 sets of bus signs each week. This varies a little bit, depending on the width of each week's signs, but for consistency, we allow 28 reservations. You can reserve bus sign space for as many weeks as your budget permits, up to a semester at a time. Request bus sign space using this online request form / list of available weeks.
When should I reserve space?
- Reservations for Fall begin in early July
- Reservations for Winter begin in early December
- Reservations for Spring/Summer and the first two weeks of September begin in mid-April
Content Requirements
All basic content requirements established by SORC apply, most importantly
- The name of the student organization or department must be visible on all bus signs. Multiple student organizations or department names may be included, but at a minimum, the name of the organization that reserved the space must appear. Letters identifying this information must be at least 1/2" tall.
- Contact information for the organization must be included. Contact information may include a phone number, e-mail address, and website, but must include at least one of these things. Letters identifying this information must be at least 1/2" tall.
- Click here to see a complete list of SORC content requirements.
- Your organization must not violate any content, trademark or name usage policies.
Hint: Successful advertisements are those that are colorful, eye-catching, and concise. Most people are on the go, and they do not have the time (or attention span) to read a lengthy advertisement. Stick to the basics: Who, What, When, and Where.
Limits
Each organization is limited to two sets of bus signs per week. If, as of one hour before the deadline for placement, there are vacancies, you may place additional requests. All normal deadlines still apply, so you would have to bring the bus signs with you, or be prepared to print, mount, and submit them within 60 minutes.
It is not possible to have a set of bus signs up one week, come down, and ask SORC to keep the signs for future use. If you have the need to place the same ads multiple weeks during the semester, it may be necessary to print more signs. Here's why:
There are over 40 buses in the fleet; SORC accepts 30 signs for each group’s reservation. When SORC drivers visit the bus garages to put up new signs and take down old signs, 10 to 12 buses are usually in service, doing their routes on campus. Therefore, SORC drivers are not able to take down all old signs on the first try. It usually takes 2 or 3 visits to the garage before all of the old ones are located and taken down. Typically, this is no cause for concern with SORC customers because more exposure (free!) is generally better. However, if your group wants to get the signs back, this creates some challenges.
Advertisers may come in after their bus signs are scheduled to come down and sort through the pile, but it is unlikely that all 30 will be there, especially at first. The responsibility for retrieving them from the pile is on the advertiser; SORC does not provide this service. Advertisers can't just request on their reservation that SORC keep the signs for them, and expect that they'll be put back up on the later reservation date.
Advertisers may come anytime during regular SORC hours and search through the pile of taken-down bus signs. Old signs are immediately placed "for sale" as recycled poster board, so it's best to come early.
- If your signs were scheduled to come down on Sunday, the best time to come in and look through the pile would be Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
- If your signs were scheduled to come down on Friday, the best time to come and look through the pile is Friday morning.
- Even though your signs are in the "for sale" pile, you do not have to pay for them. You can always take back your group's signs for free, no matter how old.
Finally, some signs fall down or get taken down by the drivers if they sag or a corner gets pulled out of the track. On rare occasions, some signs are actually taken by riders of the buses. So even if you come in repeatedly and check the "taken down" pile, bear in mind that you might only get 20 or 25 signs back.
For these reasons, if you have a reservation for multiple time periods, you should be prepared to submit three different sets of bus signs.
Deadlines and Placement
Bus signs are installed on the university buses on Sunday afternoons and Thursday late nights (which are referred to as "Friday bus signs.") Although SORC drivers place signs at a time when most buses are likely to be present, they cannot always place all 30 of your signs on different buses. In some cases, they place two signs on some buses in order for all of them to be placed.
Sunday signs can only be placed on Sundays, and Friday bus signs can only be placed on Thursday nights. Hence, if you have a reservation that begins on Sunday but you miss the final deadline, you cannot submit signs and expect them to be placed on Thursday night, or vice-versa. The earliest they can be placed is the following week, assuming of course that you have an additional week reserved. If you do not, then you relinquish your bus sign reservation and will not be issued a refund.
- Sunday bus signs........All signs must be submitted before 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening for placement on Sunday afternoon. The SORC is closed on Saturdays, so if you would like SORC staff to glue-mount the signs onto poster board for you, they must be submitted by Thursday at 11:00 p.m.
- Friday bus signs........All signs must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on Thursday evening for placement late on Thursday night. If you would like SORC staff to glue-mount the signs onto poster board for you, they must be submitted by Wednesday at 11:00 p.m. If you submit signs on Thursday for placement that night, SORC staff cannot glue-mount them for you, even if you paid the mounting fee in advance.
Construction Guidelines
A"set" of bus signs is 30 signs. When you place a reservation for a week of bus signs, the rental cost covers placement of up to 30 signs.
Height: The height of bus signs is dictated by the slots into which they fit. All signs must be mounted onto poster board that is exactly 11 inches tall. If your signs are not cut exactly 11 inches tall all the way across, drivers cannot place them.
Mounting: Rubber cement is recommended for mounting; glue sticks are also good. SORC staff will mount a set of fliers on poster board for a $15.00-$20.00 fee (based upon the size of the signs). This includes the adhesive but not the poster board backing. STAPLES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Thickness: Bus signs must be of appropriate thickness. SORC clerks will not accept signs printed on card stock, as they fall down immediately when drivers hang them. This is a waste of your organization's money. Pre-cut (recycled) bus signs are available for sale in two different sizes at The SORC. Some types of lamination are also acceptable, but get a sample at The SORC before you proceed with lamination.
Please be advised that some types of poster board are too thick, especially Crescent brand. The name is usually printed on the back of each sheet. Free samples of good and bad poster board are available at The SORC if you are not sure. SORC clerks will not accept bus signs that are too thick.
Width: A great deal of width variation is allowed for bus signs; they can be as wide as 28". Warning: 28" signs fall down more frequently than narrower signs and almost always tear when drivers take them down. Remember, too, that you are paying for the space rental by the inch. Wider signs mean more money. A set of 28-inch sign costs over three times as much as 8 .5-inch signs.
