Hasta La Creative!

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials in Dubai are negotiating with international and local companies over naming rights for two dozen mass transit stations.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority is offering naming rights for 23 of the planned 47 metro stops, as well as for the two metro lines themselves. A rider on the new Dubai system might someday be getting off at, say, the Citibank stop on the Nike line.

Much of the planned 45-mile rail system will be above ground, running parallel to Dubai’s main 12-lane highway, which will provide added exposure for commercial messaging.

The first metro line is scheduled to be operational in September 2009.