No money for new bus shelters, Winnipeg Transit officials tell committee

People who ride the bus in Winnipeg could be left out in the cold as a project to build new heated bus shelters wraps up this year with no plans to extend it.

The four-year project began in 2019 with $7 million to build 55 new heated shelters. Due to revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that was cut by $1.2 million, which reduced the number of shelters to 35.

At a Wednesday meeting, transit officials told the City of Winnipeg's public works committee there is no funding to continue the heated shelter program beyond 2023. 

There is also no money to build any unheated shelters, partly due to ongoing vandalism of existing shelters. Global supply chain issues are affecting the availability of materials like glass and slowing repairs to those shelters, the committee heard.

"Everyone's aware of the challenges we're having with vandalism in our shelters and glass getting smashed and things like that," Bjorn Radstrom, manager of service development for Winnipeg Transit, told the committee.

"We're not keeping up with replacing those [shelters] because we simply can't get the parts in."

In October, city officials told CBC News Winnipeg Transit had 880 shelters, of which nearly 300 had been vandalized over the course of 2022.

The city estimates it's about two years behind on getting the materials to build new shelters, and due to vandalism officials need to redesign the way they approach installation of heaters, which have been taken apart in shelters. 

'Service is terrible'

Some areas of Winnipeg, especially newer parts of the city, have a lack of shelters, said Waverley West Coun. Janice Lukes.

City rules don't require developers to include transit infrastructure like shelters, which leaves many riders in those areas out in the open while waiting for the bus, she said.

"It's not pleasant," said Lukes, who chairs the public works committee. "In a lot of the areas in Waverley West, there's not really any big trees [for shelter] either. So, you know, it's very cold."

Later this year, the city will update its developer agreement parameters — the set of rules that spell out who pays for what when new developments are built.

No funding to continue Winnipeg's heated bus shelter program

2 years ago

Duration 1:45

A city program to build 55 new bus shelters by 2023 was cut down to 35.

Old Kildonan Coun. Devi Sharma, who also sits on the public works committee, said she plans to push for funding to build bus shelters in new neighbourhoods as part of the city's 2024-27 multi-year budget process.

Transit advocates like Kyle Owens say the city needs to invest in things like bus shelters if it wants to attract more riders.

"We're looking at new developments across the city where we have very, very low access to transit, and this city says, 'Well, why should we expand bus shelters?… Nobody there uses transit,'" said Owens, the president of the advocacy group Functional Transit. 

"Well, it's because service is terrible. That's why nobody uses transit."