Edmonton spent $450K to replace 1,600 busted bus shelter panels last year

A damaged Edmonton bus shelter in a file photo. (CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton Transit Service is teaming up with the University of Alberta to improve the design of bus shelters, partially in an effort to slow down vandals.

There are roughly 5,000 bus stops across Edmonton and nearly half have shelters.

In an update to city councillors Wednesday, officials said 1,600 glass panels were damaged last year, at a cost of $456,000.

ETS wants to see what other options are out there.

"I want to look at the design, cause I don't know that glass shelters are the right design for us to be using. Plexiglass also isn't it. It burns and it's very costly in terms of maintenance and repair," ETS Branch Manager Carrie Hotton-MacDonald said.

"I know there's a design out there. We're going to find it. We'll find it with Edmontonians."

The joint study will also ask transit users what can be done to make bus shelters more accessible, safer and more comfortable.

"There’s lots of different designs across the country and I know in the United States as well," Hotton-MacDonald said.

"We’re thinking about climate and we’re thinking about extreme weather, whether it’s extreme heat or extreme cold. What are the right materials? What would withstand the risks of vandalism and just providing more comfortable experience for people?"

In 2019, the city spent $201,574 to replace 592 bus shelter panels, up from $156,000 in 2017.

A new report presented at city hall Wednesday by the Edmonton Transit Service Advisory Board (ETSAB) also recommended more shelters, both heated and not, at bus stops.

A heated bus shelter can cost as much as $117,000 to install and run a power feed, plus an additional $2,500 a year for electricity.