BART Debuts Mascot-Covered Train Car
- BART has wrapped a train car with mascots to test new revenue and marketing opportunities. - The eye-catching car is intended to spark smiles, waves and attract photos from daily riders. - Officials say the pilot explores nonfare income amid ridership recovery and budget pressures (patch.com).
Bay Area Rapid Transit has put a bright blue train car covered in dancing BARTy mascots into regular service as a test of whether full-car wraps can become a new advertising business. (bart.gov) BART said the pilot began Monday, April 20, and the wrapped car will roam the system for the next few months. The agency said the car is built from its newer Fleet of the Future trains, not the retired legacy fleet that once carried wraps. (bart.gov) The test is partly about marketing and partly about maintenance. BART said staff will study how wrap material holds up on the Fleet of the Future’s different exterior finish, including durability, appearance and upkeep during normal service. (bart.gov) The pilot arrives as BART searches for money beyond fares. On its financials page, the agency says it is still using federal and state emergency funds to run service and balance its operating budget, and that those relief funds are projected to run out in 2026. (bart.gov) BART said in March 2025 that it had erased a projected $35 million deficit for fiscal year 2026, but warned that structural deficits of $350 million to $400 million remain in later years unless it finds stable long-term funding. The agency said the emergency aid it received since the pandemic was projected to run out in spring 2026. (railwayage.com) Agency officials are framing the wrapped car as one piece of that revenue search. Marketing director Dave Martindale said the pilot is meant to test whether train wraps could become “a unique platform for advertisers” while supporting service riders use every day. (bart.gov) The mascot choice also fits a broader BART strategy that started before this wrap. Richmond Confidential reported in October 2024 that BART had been using anime-style mascots and fan events to reach younger riders after pandemic ridership collapsed and commuting patterns changed. (richmondconfidential.org) That earlier campaign produced four characters commissioned after an August 2022 art call and introduced at FanimeCon in 2023. The wrapped car turns those mascots from posters and social posts into a moving ad that doubles as a test case for selling exterior space on trains again. (richmondconfidential.org; bart.gov) BART has not announced pricing, advertisers or a wider rollout. For now, the agency says the blue mascot car is a pilot, and the next decision comes after staff judge whether the wraps can survive daily service without disrupting maintenance. (bart.gov)
