“We wrapped twenty buses, and nobody could say which routes they ran on.”
You get the route list before you pay, dated photos once the ad is up, and spot checks.
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Advertising · Outdoor · Transit
Transitadvertising
Since 201565+ in-house teamKolkata office, 5 team bases
Your buyers see the same buses and metros every day. Put your ad where they already travel.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
/ 01 Bus advertising
Ride alongwith your buyers.
Transit ads fail when you paid for twenty buses and can't say where they ran. PromotEdge plans bus, metro, railway, auto-rickshaw and cab ads route by route, so your buyers see you every day and you can count the enquiries.
Transit advertising means ads on things that carry people, or where they wait. It is one part of OOH (out-of-home) advertising. For big fixed boards, see hoarding advertising. For screens, see DOOH.
It suits a diagnostic centre near a bus corridor and a coaching institute whose students ride the metro. It also suits a housing project on a new road, or a maker whose dealers travel into an industrial belt.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 What you receive
From a travel mapto a route-by-route count.
| Stage | What we do | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Travel map | Plot buyers, stores and dealers against routes | A map and one route to test first |
| Shortlist and rights check | Spaces on that route, and who holds the rights | Photos, dates and rights holder for each space |
| Format plan | Bus wrap or panel, metro, railway, auto back or cab door | One page on why each format |
| Artwork for movement | Your campaign cut for each size, readable in seconds | Print-ready files, approved by the rights holder |
| Printing and fixing | Printed in the group, fixed to the owner's schedule | A fixing schedule |
| Proof of display | Dated photos and spot checks | A proof file for your sales team |
| Tracking and reading | A separate code, QR code or number per route | A short report: what ran, what it brought |
We own no buses, trains or stations and hold no ad rights, so we book from whoever does. Sizes and booking units change by city and rights holder. Printing is delivered through PEXORA, a joint venture of PromotEdge and Prodigy.
Our beliefWe use AI to save your team's time. A person still makes the decision.
/ 03 What usually gets in the way
Where a transit testusually stalls.
“Our auto ads looked great on day one and were torn by week three.”
Material is chosen for sun, rain and the vehicle. How damage gets fixed is agreed in writing.
“We booked metro panels at a station our buyers never use.”
We start from a map of where your buyers travel, not from what is free.
“Our bus ad had the full address and five services. Nobody can read that on a moving bus.”
Use one line, one picture, your name and one easy number or code.
“We have no idea if even one enquiry came from it.”
What can't be measured can't be achieved. Each route gets its own code, QR code or number.
“We want every line in the city, and the budget covers one.”
Start with the one most likely to work. A month of numbers shows where the next rupee goes.
Not sure which route to test first? Show us where your buyers travel. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 How a test runs
Map, test one route,then add more.
A first test route in one city usually goes live in about four weeks, then runs for a month. Start earlier before festive months. Think creative, act on numbers: test small, then scale.
- 01
Week 1: brief and travel map
What the ads must do, in which city, by when. We map where your buyers travel.
- 02
Week 2: shortlist and rights check
Spaces on the route, with photos and the rights holder. You pick the test.
- 03
Weeks 2 to 3: artwork
Sized for each format. The rights holder approves the design before printing.
- 04
Weeks 3 to 4: print and fix
Printed, then fixed to the owner's schedule, with photos of each.
- 05
The test month: check
Spot checks on the road. Torn, faded or missing ads are reported and fixed.
- 06
End of month: count and decide
Calls, scans and visits counted route by route. Add what worked, drop the rest.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
Deeper reading if you want the research behind the plan.
How we deliver it, and why
How your business model changes the plan
A local clinic or coaching centre usually starts with autos and one bus corridor. A consumer brand in one city may add metro. A maker whose dealers travel looks at stations and the roads of an industrial belt.
- Map before media. A space is cheap to book and costly to waste. A map and one test route.
- Check who holds the rights. Only the holder can approve the design and fix the ad. A name and dates for each space.
- Prove the display. Wraps fade and tear, and photos catch it early. Dated photos.
- Count by route. Money should follow the routes that brought calls. Routes to add or drop.
Rules and AI in transit advertising: today and next
Who sets the rules
ASCI is an independent, voluntary self-regulatory organisation that works to keep advertising in India truthful and in line with the ASCI Code. Our view: write transit copy to that code too.
Source: ASCI website, read 10 October 2026
AI: today
Adobe said on 12 February 2025 that Firefly is trained on content it has permission to use, and named Generative Fill in Photoshop as a Firefly-powered editing feature. It is handy for picture ideas before artwork is cut to a bus side.
Source: Adobe newsroom, 12 February 2025, read 10 October 2026
AI: next
Our view: picture options will get faster. Walking the route, checking the rights holder and counting calls stay human work.
Want us to look at a plan you already have? Talk to us
/ 05 Cost
What affects the costof transit advertising.
No price list. These things move the number.
Ten autos and a full-wrap bus fleet are very different jobs. Media rent, printing and fixing are charged at actuals and shown before you approve.
What affects the cost
- The format: bus wrap or panel, metro, railway, autos or cabs
- The city, and the exact route, line or station
- How many vehicles or panels, and for how many weeks
- Full wrap or part panel, and the material
- Printing, fixing and removal at the end
- The season: festive months fill up early
How we quote
- We talk about what the ads must do, where and for how long.
- We map your buyers' travel and suggest one route to test.
- We write the plan: spaces, dates, formats and tracking.
- Within 2 working days you get a quote with each cost on its own line.
What you get in the quote
- Routes, lines or stations, with dates
- Media rent as quoted by the rights holder
- Printing, fixing and removal, shown separately
- Proof photos, tracking and the month-end report
Check that every vehicle, route or station is named, and what proof you get. For all your media through one team, see media buying.
/ 06 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Brands and people are named only as public examples. They are not PromotEdge clients or endorsers unless stated.
Keep exploring
Related pages.
The expertise that fits your business, and the places we work.
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Proof and reading
What people say
In their own words
What clients told us after working with PromotEdge.
“In the city of Kolkata , there are very few full service advertising agencies which are compact, agile, quick and yet have the vision and creative /executional abilities of large reputed agencies. …”
Hardeep SinghMarketing ConsultantIndependent view“I really want to thank Sayantan and his team from PromotEdge because what I find good in them is that, the team. When the team is wonderful, the outcome will definitely be wonderful. …”
Abhijit BhattacharyaFormer Captain Indian VolleyBall Team; and Founder of Brahmaputra Volleyball League“PromotEdge is one of the most hard working creative agency that LISTENS ! Do I need to say anything more ?!!!! …”
Harsh GuptaManaging Director at Rishta Foods“I commend PromotEdge as a content and advertising partner. I applaud their top-notch team, swift problem-solving, and outstanding digital media work for my brand. I express my happiness and eagerness for a long-term partnership.”
Priyanka GuptaDirector at Nitya Gold & Diamonds“PromotEdge has been a unique creative group amongst unique creativity world. …”
Rajat ChatterjeeHead Business Development at Birdman Chemeng Pvt Ltd.“PRAN & PromotEdge have been working together for last 1.5 years. Throughout, the work experience is good and satisfactory. As a client, we found PromotEdge very professional and dedicated towards any project assigned to them. …”
Sharif Rezwan KabirBrand Manager at PRAN RFL Group“The PromotEdge Agency stay with us all these 3 days, since when we arrived..more, more than 3 days. Since in the airport, they stayed together with us (FIVB team). …”
GibaBrazilian Former Volleyball Player
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Tell us where your buyers travel.We'll show you the plan.
Straight answers.
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Transit advertising is any ad on public transport, or where people wait for it. The main types in India are bus wraps and panels, metro ads, railway ads, auto-rickshaw backs and cab branding. Whoever holds the rights for that route sells each.
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It depends on the city, route or station, format, number of vehicles or panels, duration and printing. We quote after a first talk, against a written plan, with every media, printing and fixing cost shown before you approve. Bus and metro prices vary a lot by city and route.
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Go where your buyers are. Metro ads reach people on the same line every day, often office-goers and students. Bus ads pass through neighbourhoods and markets, seen by many people for a moment. If unsure, test one of each for a month.
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Indian Railways moved ad rights on station areas and coaches to e-auction on IREPS, its online portal, in June 2022, so you book through whoever won that station or train. One Central Railway train-wrap tender, Bhusawal division, 2018, needed design approval and ruled out alcohol, tobacco and rival transport ads. General guidance, not legal advice.
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It can, for a local business. Autos enter lanes and markets that buses and hoardings never reach, so they suit a clinic, a coaching centre, a shop or a housing project. Give each batch its own number, so you can count the calls.
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Agree one number before the ads go up, and check it after the month. Give each route its own code, QR code or phone number, then count calls, scans, walk-ins and name searches. You get the cost per enquiry, route by route.
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We have no published transit case to show you today, and we won't borrow another campaign's numbers. What we can do is share relevant outdoor work when we talk, and plan one test route so that your own enquiry count becomes the proof.