Madison's controversial "Pabst buses" -- three city buses fully wrapped with ads for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer -- are off the streets.

The city has had public complaints about alcohol advertising on buses, but the most-recent Pabst ads were much more dynamic and caught people's attention, making buses look like beer trucks and not transit vehicles, Metro Transit spokesman Mick Rusch said.

With the Pabst contract ended, Metro is trying minimize alcohol advertising on buses while still respecting advertisers right to freedom of speech, Rusch said.

Starting Jan. 1, Metro is no longer using a third-party vendor to sell advertising, and in-house efforts have been directed to first seek local advertisers and not actively pitch to alcohol advertisers, he said.

Metro can't say no to alcohol advertising but will explain to advertisers how the community has felt about past advertising campaigns, he said.

If alcohol advertisers are still interested in the Madison market, Metro will work with them to create a campaign the community will find more acceptable than what's been done in the past, he said.