DailyDOOH

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Well, we’ve seen transit shelters with glasses-free 3d; others with interactive games; still others with augmented reality; with NFC and QR codes; and equipped with WiFi hot spots; but, to the best of our knowledge, Montreal-based Quebecor Media’s plans to launch interactive digital transit shelters featuring gesture recognition will be a first.

Quebecor Media and the Société de transport de Montréal planned 84” interactive digital transit shelters featuring gesture recognition are expected to bolster Quebecor Media’s positioning as the market leader, enhance the commuter experience for STM clients, and help advertisers reach their target audiences more effectively.

Quebecor Media was recently selected following an invitation to tender to install, maintain and advertise on STM bus shelters for the next 20 years. It is a major move by Quebecor Media into this line of business.

“Building on our culture of innovation and our strong relationship with Quebecers, these digital bus shelters, which will be installed across the Island of Montréal, are certain to please users of mass transit, visitors and advertisers alike,” said Robert Dépatie, President and CEO of Quebecor Media. “The powerful, user-friendly technological platform we have created will also unable us to upgrade the product over time and steadily improve the fixtures seen on Montréal streets.”

Michel Labrecque, chairman of the Board of the STM, says, “This long-term agreement is the result of a rigorous call for an expressions of interest process. We will draw on Quebecor’s energy, dynamism and capacity for innovation to replace our transit shelters, keep them clean and in good condition, keep commuters better informed and increase our non-fare revenues. We are very pleased with this business partnership, which has been established in collaboration with our commercial arm, Transgesco, and we welcome Quebecor’s socially responsible commitment to mass transit and to our clients.”

In Sept., 2013, Quebecor Media will install some 40 digital shelters, custom designed by and for Quebecers, across the Island of Montréal. STM users and all Montrealers will be able to consult bus schedules, see a detailed map of the bus and metro system, catch up on the latest news and see the weather forecast. The public will also benefit from the infinite creative possibilities that these interactive shelters will open up for advertisers. Capabilities such as the ability to interact close-up with customers in their environment, to screen videos, to offer discounts or to sell concert tickets make the digital transit shelter a major innovation.

In addition, Quebecor Media has undertaken to add 850 transit shelters to the existing network and to replace all of the approximately 1,870 shelters under its responsibility by 2023. During the current year, Quebecor Media will install 200 transit shelters in all parts of the city, including the 40 digital shelters. The complete design, developed by the Leblanc + Turcotte + Spooner consortium, winners of a contest organized by Design Montréal, strikingly reflects Montréal’s identity.

And, while Montreal gets ready to sport the new digital transit shelters, we’ve been waiting to hear whether Toronto City Council will okay a request from Montreal-based Astral Media to approve digital transit shelters in Toronto. The Council was to make numerous decisions regarding its street furniture last month, but while a Year 5 report supported the request from Astral Media for permission to amend Toronto’s Street Furniture Agreement to use digital technology on its transit shelters, we believe that a decision is only due next week.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 7th, 2013 at 10:00 @458 and is filed under DailyDOOH Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.