Transit ‘ghost shelters’ may be hitting the road
City street furniture chief wants to hear from public about rarely-used structures
Coming soon to a TTC stop near you: a transit shelter moved from a location where it was used for advertising instead of people.
After our columns about shelters at TTC stops where ads on them are visible to passing traffic but few riders, if any, are waiting for a ride, the manager of city street furniture says he wants to do something about it.
Ryan Lanyon says he wants “feedback from (Star) readers, TTC riders and the public so that we can make adjustments to improve the amenities or put them where they are most useful.”
It’s a welcome response to a widely held suspicion that “ghost shelters” are put up in high-traffic areas to maximize ads, while hardly anyone is using them to wait for a bus or streetcar. We asked readers last week to identify stops where shelters seem redundant, to be passed along to the TTC for its opinion on the value of shelters in those locations, based on rider data.
The response has been great, but we still want to hear about shelters that look to be unused, except as ad platforms, while riders shiver in the cold and rain at stops that don’t have a shelter but could use one.
Lanyon said the city’s 20-year contract with Astral Out of Home to provide street furniture, including transit shelters, is at its halfway point, with 4,000 new shelters put up in the first 10 years.
“We have another 1,100 shelters to roll out over the next decade, almost all of which will be at brand-new locations,” he said. “These locations will provide amenity to transit riders who have never had it before, and at locations that are less and less busy.
“In fact, we’ve gone back to review previous requests for shelters that did not meet a minimum ridership count to start installing at these locations. We’re looking forward to extending this benefit to riders who have never had a shelter at their stop.”
It may not seem like it, but Lanyon said that “we strive to come up with the best possible solution at each location, and work with the TTC to make sure that transit shelters meet the needs of their customers.
“If a shelter is not needed, it is either not installed or is relocated. Finding the right location for a new shelter is not always an exact science and, sometimes, we get it wrong.”
Now that we’ve called out the city on shelters that appear to be in the wrong places, it’s encouraging that the street furniture boss is taking the high road, instead of getting all cranky and defensive.
It can only bode well for people who are hoping for a shelter. More on this in a week or so. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca . Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.