Astana plans to modernise its old bus stops to better relay accurate transportation information and keep passengers comfortable during the city’s harsh winters and hot summers, representatives of the Astana LTR company recently told tengrinews.kz.
The plan to modernise the stops comes following comments by Astana Akim (Mayor) Adilbek Dzhaksybekov criticizing the existing stops, calling them inappropriate for the local climate and unsafe for waiting passengers.
“The concept of new bus shelters incorporates the idea of a closed type shelter with additional security features and information table for passengers. The construction materials will include tempered glass, wood and metal. The design of the new bus shelters will correlate with the overall architectural style of the city. Moreover, all of them will be equipped with wood benches and heating and convection systems for winter and summer seasons respectively. Passengers will be also able to use free Wi-Fi while waiting for a bus,” explained Astana LTR representatives.
The city plans to construct 82 heated bus shelters in the most crowded districts of the city, 55 of them are expected to appear on city streets by the end of this year. For safety, new bus stops will be equipped with video linked to the Safe City System. About 100 million tenge (US$537,780) has been allocated for the project from the city budget.
According to LTR, the city has 1,065 bus stops. The construction will be organised within the city streets reconstruction project. Three bus stops located in outlying areas, however, will not be modernised as their volume of ridership is too small.
A private company will maintain and clean the stops.
“The costs will be partly covered by investors, who will also provide financial support needed for the maintenance needs of the bus shelters so that the local budget won’t be involved,” according to LTR.
