Glass bus shelters are digital, sleek, and a tempting target for Philly’s vandals

Those sleek glass bus shelters in Philadelphia are apparently attracting more than transit riders.

The shelters’ glass panes and digital advertising screens have become targets for vandalism. Forty-five of the 65 incidents of damage reported at bus shelters this year involved the glass structures, city records show, though they account for only about 56% of the city’s 376 shelters.

It often isn’t easy to conclude how a shelter was damaged or who is responsible, officials said. Some of the harm is attributable to accidents in which cars hit the shelters. But other incidents that involve cracked glass or graffiti are intentional.

Intersection, the New York City-based company that installed and maintains the structures, has spent $110,000 in repairs this year. In exchange for the free installation and maintenance, The revenue generated by advertising on the shelters screens is partially shared with the city. Intersection’s 20-year contract with the city stipulates that the company pays Philadelphia an annual fee, a percentage of the total revenue from ad sales, plus half of the revenue remaining after Intersection has paid for installation and maintenance costs.

» Can’t see the map above? Click here to view the complete article.

The company maintains digital screens in New York City as well, and vandalism there is not uncommon, said Dan Levitan, a company spokesperson.

Philadelphia’s 212 glass shelters, which began being installed in 2015, are throughout the city but particularly concentrated in Center City and University City. Intersection invested $12 million in the shelters, according to a blog post the company produced in 2016, and expected to eventually install 600 such structures in Philadelphia. The ad revenue from the signs built into the shelters was expected to generate $100 million.

Using glass, city spokesperson Kelly Cofrancisco said, improves visibility at the shelters. It’s also easier to remove graffiti from glass, and the surface has a coating resistant to scratching.

» READ MORE: Here’s what went into creating Philly’s first new bus route in almost a decade

The shelters include a map, SEPTA route information, LED lighting, and digital advertising, and are designed to be more than a feature to beautify the city’s streets.

“These amenities also support the city’s … overarching goal of creating a modern infrastructure that will benefit both our citizens, as well as our millions of visitors, for many years to come,” Cofrancisco said.

SEPTA has seen a four-straight-year decline in bus ridership, which is a factor in increasing car traffic. The city and SEPTA are planning a revamp of bus service they hope will make the public transit mode more attractive to Philadelphians.

One of the shelters that’s been damaged is at 34th and Walnut Streets, at the heart of the University of Pennsylvania. People waiting for the westbound Route 21 bus were grateful for the shelter there on a rainy Friday, though they said the shelter’s design, which includes wide seams between the glass panes, let in too much rain.

» READ MORE: SEPTA keeps bleeding bus riders. It may take years to stanch the losses.

“They don’t really work that well when it’s raining super hard,” said Chris Lester, who wore a Penn Hospitality Services polo.

Penn student Melina Lawrence, 20, rides the bus west almost daily to avoid the summer heat. She noticed the digital advertising screen damaged at another stop, at 40th Street and Walnut.

“It’s usually just a crack,” she said.

The architecture and urban studies student came to Penn from Cleveland and laughed at the suggestion that the damaged shelters could be a symptom of Philadelphia’s raucous nature.

“I feel like some people say Philly is a lawless place,” she said. “I could see that sometimes.”

Clearing the record: This story has been updated to correctly reflect Intersection’s financial agreement with the city.