Council invests in public transport
Written by Shaun Moore on October 11, 2010
Gloucestershire County Council is installing 20 new bus shelters around the county to encourage people to use public transport. 
Acting on requests and feedback from people using the buses and local councillors, the council has drawn up alist of 20 priority schemes.
Budgets are tight so any new schemes like this have to be looked at more closely than ever to ensure they’re justified.
In total 4.5 million passengers will use bus routes served by the new shelters every year – that’s 20% of all trips made in Gloucestershire.
One of the council’s key aims it to get more people using public transport instead of their own cars and improving facilities like bus shelters will make buses more attractive to use and help us to do that.
The project will cost around £125,000 in total and Gloucestershire County Council has negotiated with developers in each area to fund the bulk of this to keep the cost to the council taxpayer as low as possible.
The council will contribute £35,000 and the rest will be paid through section 106 developer contributions.
We are also minimising long term maintenance costs by working with Clear Channel, a specialist advertising company, which will maintain three quarters of the shelters using income from advertising.
Now the priority list has been drawn up, the next step is to consult with local councillors and residents on the finer details.
This will happen over the coming months.
Cllr Stan Waddington, cabinet member for environment, said: “To encourage people to use public transport we have to ensure the services are accessible and attractive.
“These new shelters will give protection from the elements and ensure that people are more comfortable while they wait for their bus and we know that millions of people will use them every year.
“It is essential that we keep costs low so we have negotiated an excellent deal with developers t oensure the majority of the cost is not met by council tax payers.
“In these tough times,it’s essential that we look to work like this more and more infuture.”
