A majority of Dallas city council members expressed tentative support for allowing city staff to come up with a plan to add digital kiosks that could generate $3 million in advertising revenue annually.
No vote was taken during Wednesday’s briefing which included options regarding both potential future use of digital kiosks and the current contract for static kiosks located throughout the city.
Currently, Dallas has 137 static kiosks in locations including downtown, uptown, Oak Cliff and the Lower Greenville area, among others.
During the briefing, representatives from the city’s Planning and Development Department told the council some of the existing static kiosks have accessibility challenges placed on sidewalks.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The current contract for static kiosks expires in June 2028, but several on the council expressed support for finding a way for the city to possibly buy out the remainder of the contract, allowing for their removal sooner.
An earlier request for a proposal to find a vendor for digital kiosks in 2023 was rejected by the council in February.
The council’s transportation committee recommended reopening the RFP at a briefing in September.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Downtown Dallas Inc., told NBC 5 then it opposed bringing digital kiosks and preferred seeing nothing replace static kiosks when the contract expires.
On Wednesday, a consortium of downtown interests, including property owners, DDI, Better Block and the Dallas Arts District signed on to a letter to the council urging them to reject digital kiosks.
“We firmly believe adding large digital advertising boards on public sidewalks throughout our urban core would contradict our collective goals as a city and provide minimal benefit to the public,” the letter said.
Councilmember Paul Ridley, who represents parts of Lower Greenville and downtown echoed the concerns of the letter in his opposition.
“We shouldn’t be cramming down their throats more street furniture that they don’t want and will impede access for the disabled,” Ridley said.
Councilmember Adam Bazaldua countered that language around accessibility issues of digital kiosks was disingenuous, citing the smaller footprint of digital versus the current static kiosks.
“Every single city that I’ve been to that have these have never been blocking a sidewalk,” Bazaldua said.
