MCDecaux wins 15-year Tokyo Metropolitan Government advertising bus shelter contract

JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, today announced that its Japanese subsidiary, MCDecaux (85% owned by JCDecaux and 15% by Mitsubishi Corporation) has won the competitive tender for advertising bus shelter contract awarded by the Bureau of Transportation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, for a minimum duration of 15 years.

This exclusive contract is the largest bus shelter contract in Japan and covers the design, installation, maintenance and operation of advertising bus shelters. At least 400 shelters, featuring more than 800 2m² advertising panels, will be installed before the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Fewer than 100 advertising bus shelters are currently financed and managed directly by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which outsources the concession to several Japanese advertising agencies, including MCDecaux.

Drawing on MCDecaux’s experience, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government opted for a Public-Private Partnership to enhance the urban landscape and improve services for citizens with modern and energy-efficient advertising bus shelters. It will, upon approval of Tokyo Metropolitan Government and related parties, add new functions, such as universal USB charge points, night time illumination of information messaging (bus stop names, bus times) and UV protective glass. Features for the visually impaired will include tactile labels and voice announcements. A total of 150 bus shelters will offer free Wi-Fi and 32-inch digital touch screens. Initially earmarked for travel information, these screens can be used to display other information and geolocation services, if requested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Transportation.

The market leader in advertising street furniture in Japan, with a network of 7,000 2m² advertising panels, MCDecaux holds a key strategic position in the third-largest advertising market in the world, with the only national advertising network across 41 cities in Japan, including the 20 largest cities. MCDecaux holds 20 - 30 year street furniture contracts in cities such as Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Kawasaki, Sendai, and Kyoto, as well as the main private bus operators in cities like Tokyo, Fukuoka, Kita-Kyushu, Hiroshima, Okayama and Sapporo.

Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “17 years after our first venture into Japan, in a country in which outdoor advertising was banned in public spaces until 2003, and after patiently building up our business through organic growth, contract by contract, I would like to congratulate once again JCDecaux’s teams for their pioneering spirit and express thanks to our partner Mitsubishi Corporation, our employees and our earliest clients who placed their trust in us. Expanding from our initial contracts in Okayama in 2003 and Yokohama in 2004, we now have a presence in 41 of Japan’s cities, and we are very proud that the Bureau of Transportation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government not only opted for our virtuous PPP business model, financed by advertising, but also chose MCDecaux as its partner. This iconic contract, a mark of recognition for our unique expertise, means that Tokyo will boast new-generation bus shelters and receive first-class service in the long term for a brighter, more accessible and smarter city as it looks ahead to hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic in Tokyo. As the inventor of the advertising bus shelter and the world leader in street furniture, we are delighted to have renewed Paris, won London, become the partner of New York and added Tokyo, this mega-city that is home to over 13 million people – which represents about 10% of Japan's total population – to our portfolio, for the benefit of citizens, advertisers and their brands.”