New Bus Benches Coming To Arvada
Arvada, CO – You never know how much you’ll miss something until it’s gone.
That’s what many Arvada-area mass transit riders discovered in November of 2014, when bus benches began disappearing.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) does not install or maintain bus benches at most bus stops, nor does the City of Arvada. In fact, for many years, a company called Outfront Media (formerly known as CBS Outdoor) had provided the benches, making revenue through advertising. Unfortunately, Outfront Media decided to get out of the bus bench business, and with little notice, removed 153 bus benches from stops throughout the community. City staff were not even aware of the change until tired bus patrons began calling to complain.
City Manager Mark Deven looked for a solution. “We do not want to get into the ‘bus bench’ business with the resulting maintenance issues involved,” he stated, “but we were nevertheless concerned for bus patrons, particularly the elderly or disabled, who now had no place to rest.” As an interim solution, the City installed old park benches at some of the community’s stops, while reaching out to the private sector to identify a new company to provide the service. In addition, with the coming of the Gold Line commuter rail in 2016, RTD is re-routing their bus service and that plan needed to be finalized before a new company could be chosen.
On December 7, 2015 the Arvada City Council approved an agreement with Creative Outdoor Advertising of America Inc. for the installation and maintenance of bus benches. The first priority will be to fill in the areas where benches were removed and work towards having a uniform design across the City.
“This agreement will provide our community with high-quality transit amenities, improving the experience of Arvadans who use transit services,” Deven said.
Installation of new benches is anticipated to commence in February of 2016.
“Creative Outdoor Advertising of America Inc. is excited to introduce the Lexington bench to the Arvada community,” said Marc Ossterholt, Creative Outdoor Municipal Affairs Manager. “We look forward to upgrading the existing benches to provide the transit rider with a functional yet distinguished and attractive transit bench.”
For information on locations and advertising rates, please contact Creative Outdoor at 1-800-661-6088 or Sales@CreativeOutdoor.com or visit us at www.CreativeOutdoor.com.
