Bus Stop Shelters OKd for 10 Sites

Talk about shelter from a storm. Ventura County bus riders may soon have a place to duck the rain and other elements after approval Tuesday of a plan to let advertisers install bus shelters in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Launching a pilot program, the Board of Supervisors agreed to seek proposals from commercial vendors to install shelters at 10 bus stops along routes served by county-supported transit agencies. The pilot program can be expanded if it is successful.

Those routes are primarily along California 33 through Ojai, California 126 between Ventura and Santa Paula and various roads in the El Rio area, county staff members said. None of the bus stops along those routes have benches or shelters.

“This will be something new in the unincorporated areas,” Public Works Director Art Goulet told the board. “But it’s not new in California, and it’s not new in Ventura County.”

The county is patterning its pilot program after similar efforts in Simi Valley, Port Hueneme and Oxnard. In return for being allowed to sell advertising, the vendors must agree to maintain the shelters and pay a percentage of the money generated from advertising sales to the county.

Officials estimate the program will generate about $10,000 a year for the county.