Contrary to popular misconception, the TTC has nothing to do with bus shelters and never has. They were originally erected by the local municipalities. North York used to budget for 40 shelters a year, but they were a major headache for the municipalities because of the cost of keeping them clean – and they hardly ever were clean.
Under former Toronto mayor David Miller, the city hit upon the idea of contracting out our street furniture (shelters, benches and trash bins) to a company in exchange for exclusive advertising rights on our streets. The plan was also to get rid of the ugly newspaper boxes that clog sidewalks and intersections and install public washrooms; but that’s another story. Several Companies competed and the contract was awarded to Astral Media Outdoor LP. The company signed a 20 year contact signed in 2007 and so it lasts for another thirteen years. It was a pretty good deal. The city got spiffy new street furniture and it shed the costs of maintaining shelters, bus benches, notice boards, and trash bins. In addition to some $26 Million worth of street furniture the city also received revenues of some $429 Million over the 20 year life of the contract. Now here’s the down side. In North York, for example, bus shelters were erected on the basis of actual need. City staff would count the number of passengers using a stop and multiply it by the length of time between busses to generate a number.For example, if ten people waited at a bus stop for 20 minutes it would be allocated a shelter ahead of a main street shelter that served 50 passengers who had to wait 2 minutes. Councillors would submit their requests for shelters and the numbers would objectively determine who got the shelters. This is the only way that remote locations could ever get shelters. Outdoor advertising companies earn their revenues based on traffic volume. They charge advertisers on the basis of how many people are calculated to see an ad. A billboard on Sentinel Rd., and Grandravine Dr., generates far less revenue for them than the same poster located at Jane St., and Finch Ave. W. Now shelters began to be erected on the basis of how much advertising revenue they could generate forthe company rather than need to shelter people waiting for busses.This has resulted in the erection of what I call “Ghost Shelters.” The most outrageous examples are two shelters that are located at the Intersection of Sheppard Ave. W., and Allen Rd. One is located on the south west corner where there is a bus stop but no bus route. The other is at the south east corner, a few meters away from Downsview station that also has a bus stop but no bus route. Even if there were real bus routes that served these stops there would be no reason to ever get on or off a bus at these locations. I checked out the litter containers. They both looked brand new and there was no litter in any of them. All the buses that pass are are on route to be serviced at the Wilson Yards.The Ghost shelters are located here because the intersection has one of the highest traffic volumes in the city and hence generates huge advertising revenues for Astral Media.Each of these shelters costs about $28,000 to erect. Under the agreement the company has to erect a fixed number of shelters a year. That means that because of these Ghost shelters there are two bus stops in this city that have no shelter. Passengers have to suffer the rain and snow because the city has lost control of where shelters are located.How many other Ghost shelters does Toronto have?I will be asking the chair of the TTC and the two local Councillors for their comments and will share them with you in a future column when I talk about shelters that don’t actually shelter anyone. I would also invite readers to tell me where they would like to see shelters erected.by Howard Moscoe