Bus ads a good deal

Now and then you hear about a government initiative so common sensical, you're surprised it wasn't being done already.

At a press conference in North Brunswick last week, Middlesex County officials announced that they would begin selling advertisements to be placed on the sides of county buses. Middlesex County Area Transit will partner with a private-sector advertising company, which will take care of the sales end of things, and split the profits. Officials estimate the ads could generate up to $60,000 in revenue for the county annually.

These days, municipalities are toying with just about any idea that might generate revenues, including tacky proposals to place ads on police cars. But the sight of an ad inside a NJ Transit train or on the side of a bus is so common now that people don't even think about it.

Middlesex County Depart-ment of Transportation Executive Director Steven Fittante said that county officials have worked for 25 years to finally institute this program. They never should have had to. Any bureaucratic red tape that would stop such a simple, worthwhile idea from moving ahead is an example of government at its worst, and has cost taxpayers several years of serious money.