Attractive new shelters for East Bay bus passengers are being installed at AC Transit stops in many communities
Press Releases
09/22/2000
(Oakland, CA) Mayors Roberta Cooper of Hayward and Gus Morrison of Fremont officiated at dedication ceremonies Thursday (Sept. 21) launching a new partnership in which AC Transit, various East Bay municipalities and a national out-of-home advertising company will install hundreds of attractive new bus stop shelters throughout the East Bay. In agreements with Alameda County municipalities and with AC Transit, Lamar Transit Advertising has undertaken installation of passenger shelters at some 500 bus stops throughout the bus system’s service area. Going up initially in Hayward and Fremont, the new passenger shelters are scheduled to be installed soon in Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Newark and San Leandro plus unincorporated parts of Alameda County. Lamar is installing these shelters at no cost to the cities nor to AC Transit, in exchange for rights to sell advertising in the public right of way. Revenue-generating ads are to be posted in some 400 of the shelters – and all 500 will hold site-specific information about using local bus service. The shelters will be illuminated at night, a safety feature that should please patrons. “Our mutual goal is to provide aesthetically-pleasing amenities that help to increase personal comfort for passengers and the ease with which they use their transit system,” states AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez. “This new interagency partnership makes a substantial bus shelter program possible that will be without cost to the cities involved or to AC Transit.” While the shelters will have a unified visual image, the municipalities will be able to customize their color. In some cases, like on San Pablo Avenue where AC Transit plans on introducing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) improvements, special designs may be negotiated. BRT plans will give bus service on San Pablo Avenue such improvements as passenger shelters, transit stations, and the high-performance characteristics of 21st century light rail – but not the cost and time it takes to introduce streetcars. Lamar Transit Advertising installs and, what is more important, maintains the new bus shelters under agreements that commit a portion of the advertising revenue to participating municipalities and to AC Transit. Under these agreements, maintenance crews will visit the shelters at regular intervals attending to housekeeping chores. The structures are to be pressure washed on a regular schedule. Each will display a phone number to which maintenance needs may be reported. A full service out-of-home media company, Lamar Corporation presently operates outdoor advertising companies serving markets in 42 states. Its East Bay operations will be conducted in offices newly opened in Hayward. In addition to passenger shelters, Lamar has offered to provide benches without advertising at bus stops deemed not appropriate for larger structures. AC Transit was able to jump-start its Multi-Agency Bus Shelter Advertising Project with a $214,000 Transportation Fund for Clean Air grant, allocated by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency to help offset the cost of establishing an inter-agency consensus on key aspects of the program. A committee established by the participating cities and AC Transit now oversees the project.