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ChineseWould You Rather Have: Bus Shelters Or An Ad-free Environment?
Metro San Fernando Valley Sector Council member Kymberleigh Richards is known for her outspoken defense of Metro when it comes to criticism about bus stops and the lack of comfortable benches/shelters. Kymberleigh makes it clear that since Metro doesn’t own the shelters, benches, or anything else at a bus stop other than the signs, they have no control over the comfort level of the stop. In a recent rant, inspired by a Daily News article about revenue loss due to residents fighting against new bus shelters (provided by an advertising company) that they claim would bring blight to their neighborhoods, Kymberleigh draws the line between improved bus stop conditions and advertising. In the current reality, the two are correlated and you can’t have one without the other. So which is it going to be, comfier bus stops and more money for the city’s dwindling coffers, or neighborhoods free of corporate noise? Kymberleigh sides towards the former, and offers this bit of advice for those on her side:
I am offering a bit of advice to everyone who has ever wanted a shelter placed at their favorite bus stop: Write your elected member of the City Council. Tell him or her that you disagree with the perception that these shelters are advertising blight and should be restricted. And then make an official request for your favorite corner to receive a shelter.
Read Kymberleigh’s entire rant here.
Discussion
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I hate ads, but I think bus shelters are very important. The disabled and the elderly need them. I remember standing with my handicapped friend for one hour waiting for the bus to come. His legs were so stiff I had to help him on to the bus.
The need for bus shelters to me out-weighs the need for an advertisement free environment. I would much rather efforts to fight advertising on bus shelters go to fighting against advertising on the bus via that horrible TV program that are on the MTA busses.
There are children on the bus. Children whose minds could be molded by these horrible sexist and stereotypical views of people ads and “programs,” and it’s not right.
It’s up to parents to decide if children are exposed to two hours of ads, not the MTA.
I had a friend who sometimes rides the bus with me curse once when children were present on the bus and I told the person that poor children deserve innocence too. As I wish fellow passengers would be mindful of little ones on the bus and train, I wish the MTA would also be mindful.
At the very minimum the advertising on Metro TV should be banned from airing during hours that school children are on the bus.
Commercials on how to make money quick and unaccredited colleges are not educational.
Browne
This is a false dichotomy. I don’t know what the terms of Metro’s agreement with JCDecaux is, but it seems like it should be possible to get more shelters without more ads - if you find another way to pay for them.
Bus shelters are invaluable when it is raining and very sunny days. If it needs one ad, then it’s worth it. The shelter ads don’t lead to blight, the bench ads do.
I would agree Cap’n Transit. Kymberleigh is very much a realist when it comes to “how things are now”. I’m kind of an idealist and think “the way it is now is kinda stupid”.
Once again, again, and again: benches and shelters are provided by the local city, NOT METRO - GET IT? there is no contract between Metro and JCDecaux. Ever wonder why Wilshire gets cool Rapid Bus shelters and none of the other Rapid Bus lines do? It’s your city and county and their petty disagreements over street furniture, ad revenue, and taxation - again, NOT METRO. Attempting to maintain 18,000 bus stop signs is challenging enough, there is just no way Metro could maintain 18,000 shelters and benches too. Besides, local cities don’t want that revenue stream flowing to Metro - in their minds, it’s your sidewalk - Metro buses just stop in front of it. The City of West Hollywood gets my kudos for cool bus shelters. The City of Bevery Hills right next door? Total jerks when it comes to bus shelters. For the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica, two of busiest bus routes there are, not to have any kind of shelter is just plain cruel and nasty. For the City of L.A. to ignore bus passengers sweltering in the San Fernando Valley’s hot Summer sun, well, it’s just freakin’ unbelieveable. Issue the contract, take the money, and give us some damn shade already (and add in a WiFi connection, the long Valley bus headways would give me plenty of time to blog while waiting for my bus).
Is it only Rapids 720-Wilshire & 750-Ventura that has those neat bus “stations” with the NextBus display? If so, then it’s likley since those were the pilot Rapid routes from June 2000 that they were probably set up as a demonstration of the “light rail-like” characteristic of Metro Rapid which has been forgotten in the later Rapid route implementations.
The Rapid Bus shelters weren’t forgotten by Metro. Metro has the money for them. The City of L.A. and the L.A. County Tax Assessor have been fighting over the tax rate on “street furniture” for the past five years and that’s why you don’t see them on other lines. Again, Metro is not the reason we don’t have bus shelters.
browne, while your efforts to purge the world of profanity and smut are noble, it’s not quite feasible. however, your efforts to purge the world of transitTV is possible so lets just get that idiotic mess out of the way first. luckily, it seems that about 95 percent of the time i ride they’re off or at least muted. phew.
as for ads elsewhere, i’d rather be able to sit down on a nice bench while i wait, possibly in the shade, rather than not see an ad for a movie (as if thats even a big deal at all) and stand. who cares, the point that we need an ad free transit system is idiotic. but like matt has said, its up to the cities to get the contracts with cbs and jcdecaux among others, not metro. and those weho stops prove it cuz they’re awesome. i used to get on/off pretty frequently in weho at doheny and beverly but if i missed the stop or went further into bhills (1 stop further west in fact) it was always cool to see that they were completely barren, as if they just can’t bare to accept that bus stops do exist in their city.
Here’s a link to a Metro report about bus shelters, page 4 has the complete list of contacts (names, email and phone numbers) for the 84 municipalities in L.A. with bus benches and shelters - now you know who to go and express yourself to:
http://boardarchives.metro.net/Items/2006/07_July/20060720OPItem29.pdf
I’d love to have general transportation dollars in a local authority go to us benches, etc.
The MTA can save local city’s a lot of money if they focus on getting their citizens out of cars and onto buses. It is just hard to justify building proper bus shelters (and maintaining them) over fixing potholes, repaving streets, and paying local police to deal with car crashes and injuries.
Quality bus shelters are like a garnish alongside the red meat of a multi-lane highway in most L.A. area cities. They’re not part of “transportation” planning - they are an afterthought, like the nature band-aids that cities force big box retailers to install around their massive parking lots.
At every bus stop there should be a shelter, and like with SF Muni, EVERY bus stop should have a current MTA system-wide map posted.
In fact, on the buses themselves, especially the rapid buses, there should be information on its route posted for easy viewing.
The 12-minute map is great too. People shouldn’t have to carry around 50 little schedules to use the system.
The MTA needs to do a better job of promoting itself. Shelters are a great way of doing it.
In any other city, this discussion would be a joke.
Gimem the bus shelters. Hell, just a bench, decently placed AWAY from the roadway and not where NOBODY boards the bus (Los Feliz Blvd between Commonwealth and Riverside picks up approximately SIX—yes, 6!—passengers daily along the five stops yet has SEVEN—yes, 7!—bus benches. On each side!)
Apparently the advertisers dictate the placement.
And speaking of shelters and benches, anyone notice that there is a single, UNANCHORED bench at 5th and Olive, where several buses stop and tens of people await their respective lines? Said bench is sure to be used as a missile some day, as it has been there waiting for some crazy bastard for months.
the 5th and olive bus stop is a tragedy. its at pershing square, which is possibly the stupidest/ugliest public park/square i’ve ever seen, yet they can’t have a bench/shelter to make that contrete and metal monstrosity somewhat useful.
The ads on bus shelters are aimed at car drivers not bus users. The ads are either behind us on the bench or at our sides on shelter. So let the ads pollute the driving experience and give us our shelters. Perhaps someone will finally purchase ads to shame at least some drivers out of their cars - It just kills me when I see ads for new cars on buses, that should be outlawed. Seriously, since ads on benches and shelters obviously aren’t aimed at those of us who sit there (judging from their placement - do you have eyes in the back of or on the side of your head?) BFD. Most the whining over ad-blight seems to mostly come from car drivers, screw them.