After more than nine months of meetings to develop a set of uniform regulations for bus benches in the parish, a revised franchise agreement is complete and will be presented later today to the Metro Council.
The council will not vote on the new contract until next month, but Council Member Joel Boé says the measure has the support of council representatives, the Department of Public Works, the Parish Attorney’s Office and the companies that currently have contracts with the city-parish to place ad-emblazoned bus benches at Capital Area Transit System bus stops.
“We all met several times to hash this out and everyone agreed to it,” Boé says. “It needed to be done and I’m optimistic that what we’ve done with the contract will clean up the language, close any loopholes.”
Controversy over bus benches erupted in the fall of 2013, when the council allowed two new bus bench companies to come into the market. Prior to that, just one firm had a contract to place bus benches in the city parish, and it was often criticized for the condition and haphazard placement of its benches. With three competitors, however, bus benches with eye-catching ads began popping up all over town—sometimes, not even at bus stops—prompting complaints about “visual litter” and raising questions about the lack of regulation.
The new set of regulations does not address all of the concerns, but it does crack down on several problem areas. Specifically, it requires bus benches be located only at CATS bus stops, prohibits ads for gaming, alcohol and cigarettes, and limits the number of benches that may be placed within a certain area. The rules also prohibit benches at CATS bus shelters, and require that benches be level and constructed of durable material that meets certain specifications.
Also, the new regulations give DPW the right to license bus benches on state owned roads like Perkins Road and Florida Boulevard, which will enable contractors to place benches on some of the busiest thoroughfares in the parish. Boé says the new regulations are not perfect but he believes they will go a long way towards addressing a problem.
“I know there are still going to be issues with the visual litter because there are going to be more benches that are going to go out,” he says. “But the original intent is to provide bus seating for patrons of CATS who otherwise would be sitting on the ground. CATS doesn’t have the money to buy benches. This is a way to provide benches for those who need them.”
—Stephanie Riegel
