In 2008, the City of Charles Sturt embarked on a project to upgrade all our bus stops to meet the requirements of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport prior to December 2022 (in line with our legislative requirements).
We have now upgraded about 580 bus stops, with only a handful on Seaview Road remaining (where the verges are very steep). These will be upgraded in coming years. Our bus stops are now accessible with flat boarding surfaces, tactile ground surface indicators and ramps to reach the bus stop. The total cost of this initiative was approximately $6 million.
In addition to the upgrades, our community have told us that the provision of bus shelters would encourage more people to use public transport. Supporting sustainable travel is a key action in the City of Charles Sturt's Transport Plan and Net Zero Strategy in response to climate change.
To achieve this, we recently entered in a new contract with Claude Outdoor to provide new bus shelters for our community. The partnership provides new shelters at priority stops throughout the City of Charles Sturt, in exchange for revenue from the advertising panels on new and existing shelters for Claude Outdoor.
The new shelter locations will be chosen based on patronage. We will then prioritise based on the urban heat island effect and socio-economic data of the area.
In a staged approach, over the next 4 years you’ll see the new bus shelters being installed across our City.
