05 Feb 2013
Staff Writer
Ben Peyton / Senior Staff Writer
The Denton City Council authorized Mayor Mark Burroughs to execute an agreement between the Denton County Transportation Authority and the city of Denton, which will allow the DCTA to construct and maintain new bus stop shelters during a meeting Wednesday.
The DCTA submitted the proposal to build three-sided bus stop shelters at 16 locations in the connect system, which will all have a trashcan, a bench and bus route schedules.
The spread of new shelter locations across the city is intended to serve a broad range of customers including students, workers and other residents of Denton by shielding them from harmful weather while waiting for the bus, said DCTA vice president of program development, Dee Leggett.
“It’s a great amenity for our system and a great asset for the customer,” Leggett said.
DCTA staff conducted a survey to determine which bus stop sites would meet the 15 or more a day required frequency of ridership, of which 24 were selected and then were narrowed down to 16 locations.
The remaining eight locations will be addressed at a later time.
Some of the locations chosen were the bus stops at Colorado Boulevard at San Jacinto Boulevard, Teasley Lane at Interstate-35 and Scripture Street at Bonnie Brae Street, according to rodenfordenton.com
“As someone who rides the bus often, this is a great step forward to making public transit more user friendly,” Denton city councilman Kevin Roden said.
DCTA is budgeted $90,000 from the Federal Transit Administration for installation, with each shelter costing about $3,500 each, Leggett said.
The agreement gives DCTA a license to use the city’s public street right of way and is responsible for the costs of all labor and materials during the process.
“It’s a great amenity to have available in our system,” said DCTA marketing and communications manager, Kristina Brevard.
The DCTA staff is also coordinating with the Texas Department of Transportation at proposed shelter locations in TxDOT ROW.
Dcta.net and cityofdenton.com are expected to post the details of the agreement online in the near future.
