Two medical facilities in New York City have purchased advertising space on MetroCards, becoming the first hospitals to promote their services on the fare card, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced.
A print run of 50,000 cards for Mount Sinai's Urgent Care site was the first of the two to be made available the last week of August, with distribution at the 116 St-Columbia University 1-line station and 96 St. station serving the 1,2 and 3 lines.
Mount Sinai's ad buy, which promotes its facility on the Upper West Side, runs on the back of the MetroCard. The print run for the other medical facility, NYU Langone Medical Center, has advertising on the front and back.
The ad buy of 1 million cards for NYU Langone Medical Center began this week distributed at MetroCard Vending machines at several Manhattan stations, the MTA said in a Sept. 2 statement.
The MTA has been selling advertising space on MetroCards since 1995. It began selling space on the card's front face in 2012 as part of an expanded initiative to find new revenue sources. Earlier this year, an immigration law firm's ad buy of 250,000 cards became the first Spanish-language advertising on MetroCards.
According to a spokesman, the MTA does not disclose the costs of specific ad campaigns. Prices for ads on the back face of the card range from 17 to 51 cents per card, with minimum print runs of 50,000. Prices for ads on both sides range from 25 to 45 cents per card, with minimum print runs of 250,000.
The MTA produces 4 million to 5 million MetroCards monthly.
