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Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc. |
General Manager
Canada Bay Council
Drummoyne NSW.
email: council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au
Dear Sir,
During September or October 2013, Council called for public comment on the locations of proposed new bus shelters in the Council area. The closing date for submissions was to be 1 November 2013. This submission from Action for Public Transport is concerned with the functionality of any new shelters, rather than their location.
All shelters should be so located that the line-of-sight between waiting passengers and an approaching bus is not obscured by tree plantings, poles, or other street furniture. It is important that passengers using the shelter should be able to observe the destination information on the front of an approaching bus without leaving the shelter. This principle should extend to passengers sitting on the seat within the shelter when such a seat is provided. To this end, it is important that any "return" wall on the bus-approach side of the shelter does not lend itself to graffiti or unauthorised material of any kind. Many of Sydney's existing shelters do not meet this simple functional requirement.
Decades ago, North Sydney Council set a useful precedent by naming each of its bus shelters. The name was usually that of a nearby landmark or cross street. The name should figure on the bus approach side of the shelter and consist of sufficiently large characters to be legible to both the driver and the passengers in an approaching bus. It enables bus passengers to discuss destinations with bus drivers, alighting passengers to confirm their destination, and other, diverse, wayfinding and meeting purposes.
Each shelter should have provision for an information panel for displaying timetables, etc. The panel should be so oriented as to be illuminated by the headlights of passing traffic at night.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Eadie
Advocacy Manager
Action for Public Transport (NSW) Inc.
PO Box K606
Haymarket, NSW, 1240.
30 October 2013
