Be bright, like... the Subway? (MTA)

Swipe and save. (MTA)

The MTA is not exactly known for its fashion sense. There are the workaday uniforms and the baggy tailored suits of the boardroom. The LIRR and MetroNorth conductors wear hats to make Anna Wintour swoon, but that's about it.

But now the agency will be enjoying a little fashion cache (but really, only a little) plus some extra cash thanks to The Gap. The middlebrow San Francisco clothier is the first firm to purchase the MTA's new ads on the front of Metrocards, the agency announced today. The cards are now on sale in vending machines throughout the subway system, and the ad cards are expected to account for about 10 percent of all Metrocards in the coming months.

“Opening up the front of MetroCards to advertising gives the MTA a new source of revenue,” MTA Chairman and CEO Joe Lhota said in a statement. “We will monitor public acceptance of ads going forward to ensure that it doesn’t interfere with use of the transit system. There is no reason why the MTA shouldn’t put every resource it can toward helping its fragile finances.”

It seems New Yorkers might actually be rushing out to buy a new ad-enhanced Metrocard even if they don't need one, and not just because they want to do their part for those fragile finances. In addition to providing passage to the subway and the coy message "BE BRIGHT NYC," the new cards also double as a 20 percent coupon at any Gap stores. The campaign is meant to drive (make that transit) New Yorkers to the refurbished Gap flagship in Herald Square.

Better living through Metrocards. (MTA)

What may be even more exciting are the HealthPlus Metrocards, where the ads are only on the backside of the card but they promise "Free or low-cost health insurance." But that deal is probably as reliable as a C-Train.

The MTA has been running ads and other material (9/11 commemorations, sustainability spots) on the back of the Metrocards for a few years now, but this is the first time the front of the cars have change in 15 years. That is when the MTA integrated the cards on both subways and buses and started offering free transfers. The color scheme was inverted, as well, from navy background with yellow lettering from when the cards were first introduced in 1993 to the yellow background with navy lettering that we know so well today.

That may be a fading memory, though, as it sounds like Metrocard ads are here to stay.

“Since we first announced that we would accept branded MetroCards, our phones have been ringing non-stop with inquires,” said Paul Fleuranges, the MTA’s Senior Director of Corporate and Internal Communications. “In the coming months, MTA customers will see other branded cards in the system. Like The Gap, advertisers are looking to showcase their logo and provide customers with a call to action."

So much for those smart cards.

The station is running baseball highlights, and the subway cars have been plastered with ads from wheels to room. For that real bleacher experience, the seats inside the cars have been made to look like those at Yankee Stadium. MTA boss Jay Walder heralded the move in a statement as a crucial addition to the agency's $127 million (and growing) ad portfolio:

The MTA earns more than $100 million per year from sales of advertising space, mostly through traditional print media, but this traditional advertising has suffered as a result of the recession. Our uncertain finances mean that we have to think creatively to maximize the value of our physical assets. One way we are doing that is by creating more dynamic advertising opportunities.

The Times spoke to one Jersey bank analyst who said he'd watch the thing at home if he could. “It’s too bad I can only take this train one stop,” Anthony Polini told the Gray Lady.

Whether on-board TV will be rolled out system-wide—maybe they could start showing movies on the A-Line, as it makes it blah blah blah—remains to be seen. Perhaps there hasn't been more because, as Mr. Walder suggests in his statement, nobody has any money to buy advertising at the moment. (NO KIDDING!)

The agency has debuted similar ad schemes at Times Square before, such as wrapped cars and turnstile advertising, but they have yet to proliferate. It's a mixed blessing. Do New Yorkers really need to be assaulted by even more omnipresent advertising? Then again, anything to stave off further fare hikes.

Indeed, it looks like this latest gambit won't be enough to keep the MTA from jacking up unlimited Metrocards once again, as both the Post and Times report. Apparently there has been little interest in the proposed 90-ride, $99 "unlimited" card, so the agency will likely go with a truly unlimited card at the previously announced $104.

A final decision will not be made before October, but consider that the agency has yet to pull back from a card hike. And, that cards will now have gone up three times in as many years, from $76 per month in 2008. That's an increase of 37 percent, or 12.33 percent a year. At that rate, Metrocards will cost $232 by the end of the decade. Here's hoping the MTA can sell a lot of airtime before then.