Metro: Public-service ads can get back on the buses

Metro Transit reinstated public-service ads on its buses Friday while continuing a 3-month-old ban on political advertising and ads connected to public-issues debates.

The King County-owned bus line rewrote its ad policy after first accepting a message in December that alleged Israeli war crimes, and then canceling the ad on grounds that it was likely to lead to disruptions of bus service.

County Executive Dow Constantine later said he had been advised by law-enforcement authorities that the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's Israel ad could prompt attacks on buses or passengers.

Constantine approved the policy announced Friday, which bans ads such as the "war crimes" ad.

"This is how we always felt: We don't intend to make our buses open public forums. The purpose of our bus system is to get people from Point A to B safely and efficiently," Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke said.

Thielke said nonprofits, including the University District StreetFair and the Seattle Girls' Choir, had contacted the county seeking a resumption of public-service ads.

But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington, which has asked a federal judge to order the county to run the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's Israel ad, was unhappy about the new, permanent ban on public-issue ads.

The county won the first round, when District Court Judge Richard Jones denied an ACLU motion for a preliminary injunction, saying the county had "a reasonable basis" for canceling the ad.

"The public of Seattle doesn't need to be protected from opinions," ACLU spokesman Doug Honig said.

Honig also said the policy "exalts commercial speech over political speech" and means that a financial institution can advertise loans but a consumer group can't warn the public of the advertiser's predatory loan practices.

The policy says the primary purpose of bus ads is to bring in money to operate buses. Metro raised $5.5 million last year through ads, 89 percent of which were commercial.

The ad policy doesn't affect commercial advertising, which Metro accepted during the temporary ban on noncommercial ads.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com