Exactly. I can stand ads on the internet, I just block 'm. I can stand ads on private property. But just don't scream for my attention on (semi)public properties. The price of that sh!t is already covered by taxes. And if it's not, the officials are incompetent.
Transport for London (9000 buses, 985 trains, trams, hire bicycles, taxi administration, disabled people transport, some trains, some major roads in London, 755km of railway track) have a budget of £9.7 billion, of which £5.1 billion is from passengers (tickets etc), and £0.16 billion from advertising.
That is lower than I thought it would be, and lower than one would expect given the space TfL dedicate to advertising in their budget report.
I would pay 3% more on travel tickets to not have any advertising.
Even if it were all advert free at some point, someone with a huge advertising budget would probably offer hundreds of millions to be a 'sponsor' and get their logos all over the place, and then the advertising will start again. Even the £160 million they're getting now would likely be enough to persuade them, as it's not a trivial amount, even compared to their overall budget.
