Transportation
The Problem with Naming Transit Stations
Commercialism is only one of many reasons for cities not to sell out their stops
Early last year, officials from the MBTA, Boston's transit agency, decided to consider selling naming rights for stations as a way to ease a budget deficit of roughly $150 million. In July the MBTA sent out a request for proposals from a project consultant, and last month it announced that IMG Worldwide would conduct a thorough analysis of the naming rights market.
That news didn't sit well with Commercial Alert, a consumer protection group that objects to the plan's "crass commercialism."