Messages such as “Smile, It’s Sunny,” “Happy Holidays,” “What a great day to ride the MTD” and “Go Illini” decorate the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus signs, making students smile as the buses drive down the streets of campus.

Tom Costello, Assistant Managing Director of the MTD, said that the messages on the buses are officially called PR signs. Costello said he is in charge of programming the buses with the messages.

Costello said the MTD started displaying the messages when they received electronic destination signs for the buses.

“Once we had that option, we started putting in things that pertained to local events,” Costello said.

He said he programs signs for the Urbana Sweet Corn Festival, the Taste of Champaign, wishing people happy holidays, reminding passengers to vote and for sporting events. “Clip the Hawkeyes,” “Make the Gophers Roadkill,” “Tame those Happy Valley Kittens” and “Beat State,” which counts for two schools, are among the sporting event PR signs displayed on the buses.

“I think it puts a smile on their faces when they walk by,” Costello said.

And he was right about that.

Jennifer Orstrom, sophomore in education, said the signs she notices the most are the ones that say “Smile, It’s Sunny” and the Illini basketball signs.

“It sometimes puts me in a better mood when I’m having a bad day,” Orstrom said.

Costello said that the PR signs appear on nearly all the MTD buses and that he usually instructs drivers to put up certain signs on particular days.

Robert Moris, 26-Pack bus driver, said that the signs are usually displayed when there are community events. They are for the students, he said.

“The passengers love them,” Moris said. “They laugh. They think they’re nice.”