Are you ready to have scores of digital billboards installed in neighborhoods all over the City of Los Angeles? Well, whether you’re ready or not, the City is moving forward with approval of a new ordinance that would allow exactly that. LA City Planning has posted the Final Draft Ordinance which would allow LA Metro to install scores of digital billboards throughout the city for its so-called Transportation Communication Network (TCN). There are reasons to believe that the TCN has been a con from the start, but more about that later.
Under the new ordinance, Metro would be allowed to erect 86 digital billboards at locations throughout the City of LA. The billboards would range in size from 672 square feet to 1,200 square feet, for a total maximum amount of up to 55,000 square feet. Metro wants us to believe we’re getting a good deal because they’ll be taking down 110,000 square feet of conventional billboards, but does that really seem like a good trade-off to you? Since the images on digital billboards are constantly changing, we’ll be subjected to more advertising than ever, and with more ads competing for our attention, it seems likely to cause an increase in distracted driving.
There are also serious privacy concerns. One of the reasons digital outdoor advertising is so profitable is that it involves the collection of consumer data to learn about consumer behavior. Metro claims that no personal data will be collected as part of the program, but can we really trust them? William Eccleshare, former CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor, has bragged about how the company can follow you to a store, can gather info on what you purchase, and can even find out what you’re watching on TV. This August 2020 article from the LA Times offers more chilling background on how advertisers are collecting your data.
Billboards that Follow You? It’s Not Sci-Fi. They’re Already Here
Metro has already allowed Clear Channel to install digital billboards in Downey and Long Beach. Ad companies insist that no personally identifiable information is being collected, but no one really knows what they’re gathering. And because the data collection industry is almost totally unregulated, you really don’t know where the data goes or who has access to it.
The digital billboards will be installed in communities all across the city. Check out these maps from the Environmental Impact Report to see the locations.
If you want to let your LA City Council rep know how you feel about the Transportation Communication Network Ordinance, and the prospect of opening the door to digital billboards citywide, here’s their contact info.
Don’t know who your Councilmember is? Click here.
Before going on, in the interest of full disclosure, I should acknowledge that I work with a group called Citizens for a Better Los Angeles that has filed a lawsuit to stop the TCN. But I’m writing about this as an individual because I’m so disturbed by so many aspects of this program. I’m concerned about the collection of personal data on a massive level. I’m outraged by this massive invasion of our public space. And I’m furious about the level of dishonesty exhibited by both the Metro Board and members of the LA City Council.
Remember that, although these billboards will all land in the City of LA, the so-called “Transportation Communication Network” is Metro’s project. The City of LA is preparing this ordinance to change the LA Municipal Code to allow widespread deployment of digital billboards by Metro. Metro announced it would preparing an Environmental Impact Report for the TCN in 2022. According to the Notice of Preparation, the TCN would….
[….] provide a network of structures with digital displays (TCN Structures) that would incorporate intelligent technology components to promote roadway efficiency, improve public safety, augment Metro’s communication capability, provide for outdoor advertising where revenues would fund new and expanded transportation programs consistent with the goals of the Metro 2028 Vision Plan, and result in an overall reduction in static signage displays throughout the City of Los Angeles.
The first problem with this is that we already have existing infrastructure that does most of the things that the TCN is supposed to do. The Regional Integration of Intelligent Transportation Systems (RIITS) is a network of systems that gathers transportation related data throughout Southern California and offers it to local transportation agencies. Here’s what it says on the RIITS “About” web page….
Vision
RIITS’ vision is to deliver multi-modal transportation information services through a flexible platform to achieve regional mobility, safety and sustainability goals.
Mission
Our primary mission is to support the exchange of transportation information and resources between and within government organizations for regional operational mobility improvements.
If it sounds like RIITS and TCN have a lot in common, it’s because they do. The existing RIITS network is already doing a lot of the things Metro claims TCN will do. And Metro could expand the RIITS system without installing a single digital billboard. Sensors, cameras and wireless infrastructure are already widely deployed across our system of roads and freeways, so TCN isn’t really offering anything new.
Except, of course, digital billboards.
Remember, according to the 2022 Notice of Preparation, the TCN involved the placement of new advertising structures and a reduction in the number of existing static billboards. But was this really something new? Actually, no. It’s a continuation of Metro’s Billboard Program, which has been in existence for over a decade. An August 2016 Metro Board Report gives a detailed account of how Metro has been working with a company called Allvision to cut deals with cities where they agree to allow new digital billboards in exchange for the removal of static billboards. Here’s what the report says about the City of LA….
“All Vision and Metro staff have had preliminary discussions with the City of Los Angeles. The City is considering various options for the adoption of a new billboard ordinance. The City of Los Angeles Project offers Metro the greatest potential for new revenue from the conversion of static billboards to digital billboards.”
So in 2022 Metro announced it was preparing an EIR for the Transportation Communication Network, and also in 2022 Councilmember Paul Krekorian submitted his motion for an ordinance that would allow “digital off-site signs to be displayed on structures that are part of the Transportation Communication Network Program”. But the Metro Board Report shows they’ve been talking about this since 2016. By calling it the “Transportation Communication Network” they’re actually just rebranding Metro’s long-standing Billboard Program. And the “new billboard ordinance” mentioned in the Board Report is obviously the TCN Ordinance which Krekorian proposed.
Above I suggested that people call their LA City Council rep if they’d like to share their views on the Transportation Communication Ordinance (TCN). You can also submit something in writing by posting a comment to the council file.
You’ll need the council file number.
Council File: 22-0392
Transportation Communication Network Ordinance
If the City of LA passes the TCN Ordinance, you can bet it won’t just be 86 digital billboards. This is only the beginning.
The Horizon and the Skyline 