metro
03-28-2008, 07:23 AM
Bus stops to get a Tyler Media makeover
The Journal Record
March 28, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – The days of ugly, blighted and outdated bus stop street furniture in Oklahoma City may be coming to an end.
Last year, Tyler Media bought a majority of the city’s street furniture, which includes bus benches and glassed-in shelters splashed with advertising, from Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Now Tony Tyler, of Tyler Media, is making the rounds to find out what certain districts in the city would like to see when the street furniture is improved and replaced.
One of Tyler’s first stops was the downtown business improvement district advisory board meeting this week. Chuck Wiggin, president of the BID board, said the topic of street furniture has come up in past meetings, which led to him inviting Tyler to speak.
“We really are interested in how to make these look better,” Wiggin said. Most of the benches and bus shelters seen around the city are older designs that Tyler said need to be updated to enhance the transit system, and to be aesthetically pleasing. “The benches and the shelters are from the 1970s and 1980s,” Tyler said. “They need to be improved and we realize that.”
Tyler Media has a contract with the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority to install and maintain street furniture and to collect the subsequent advertising revenue. In exchange, COTPA receives a place for people to sit while waiting for a bus. But choosing a design that is pleasing to specific parts of town is another challenge. Tyler said there are 6,000 bus stops in Oklahoma City, about 1,400 of those with pieces of street furniture.
COTPA reports that the Oklahoma City bus system covers 465 miles of the metropolitan area. Community input will be a key factor is determining bus stop design.“We need to know what you would like in your district,” Tyler said. COTPA, however, will make the ultimate decision on the bus stop and street furniture design.
The process was spurred on when in 2005 the AIA Central Oklahoma chapter held a competition for bus stop designs. In December 2005, a group of intern architects at Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates won the AIA award for their bus stop design in a competition that included 80 entries from 18 states and seven countries. The contest took place before Tyler Media purchased the street furniture and their contract with COTPA, but the design could play into future bus benches and shelters that could eventually be installed. But at least one downtown property owner expressed concern over the current design of the street furniture and possible replacements that might be installed.
Rick Dowell, of Dowell Properties Inc., said he would like to purchase the benches near his properties, create his own designs, pay COTPA for the purchase, and eliminate the advertising. Dowell said that would allow him to install benches that would complement his properties, and downtown, and do away with what he called gaudy ads that adorn many of the benches.
Tyler said he plans to meet with Dowell, and any other property owners, to take their concerns into consideration before any final decisions are made.
Brett Price, president of Urban Neighbors, a group of downtown residents and businesses, said bus stops are a vital part of an urban environment, but he wouldn’t mind seeing benches and bus shelters that were both pleasing to the eye and complementary to downtown. “Anything that would overall enhance the curb appeal downtown we would be in favor of it,” he said.
Another issue that will have to be addressed is making the street furniture and bus stops ADA accessible. Paula Falkenstein, director of the city’s General Services Department and the citywide ADA coordinator, said to be accessible, a bus stop must have a curb ramp and offer room to maneuver a wheelchair. But not every bus stop has to be accessible. Falkenstein said the ADA requires city, state and county services, programs and activities to be accessible when viewed in their entirety. Therefore the ADA assesses each community to determine the number of ADA-accessible services and programs that are required.
Tyler said all ideas and requirements will be looked at in an effort to work to improve the transit system and the aesthetics of street furniture around the city. He said one push will also be to install more shelters rather than just benches. Tyler said the current efforts to gather information are solely his company’s research as a contractor for COTPA. “Our job is to first serve the transit system, which is the city,” he said. “The challenge that we have is we’re trying to design a very compact shelter structure that suits the bus rider but isn’t too obtuse for an area.”
http://www.journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labsBus%20Stop.jpg
A bus stop in downtown Oklahoma City featuring Tyler Media advertising is seen Thursday afternoon. (Photo by James Keathley)
The Journal Record
March 28, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – The days of ugly, blighted and outdated bus stop street furniture in Oklahoma City may be coming to an end.
Last year, Tyler Media bought a majority of the city’s street furniture, which includes bus benches and glassed-in shelters splashed with advertising, from Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Now Tony Tyler, of Tyler Media, is making the rounds to find out what certain districts in the city would like to see when the street furniture is improved and replaced.
One of Tyler’s first stops was the downtown business improvement district advisory board meeting this week. Chuck Wiggin, president of the BID board, said the topic of street furniture has come up in past meetings, which led to him inviting Tyler to speak.
“We really are interested in how to make these look better,” Wiggin said. Most of the benches and bus shelters seen around the city are older designs that Tyler said need to be updated to enhance the transit system, and to be aesthetically pleasing. “The benches and the shelters are from the 1970s and 1980s,” Tyler said. “They need to be improved and we realize that.”
Tyler Media has a contract with the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority to install and maintain street furniture and to collect the subsequent advertising revenue. In exchange, COTPA receives a place for people to sit while waiting for a bus. But choosing a design that is pleasing to specific parts of town is another challenge. Tyler said there are 6,000 bus stops in Oklahoma City, about 1,400 of those with pieces of street furniture.
COTPA reports that the Oklahoma City bus system covers 465 miles of the metropolitan area. Community input will be a key factor is determining bus stop design.“We need to know what you would like in your district,” Tyler said. COTPA, however, will make the ultimate decision on the bus stop and street furniture design.
The process was spurred on when in 2005 the AIA Central Oklahoma chapter held a competition for bus stop designs. In December 2005, a group of intern architects at Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates won the AIA award for their bus stop design in a competition that included 80 entries from 18 states and seven countries. The contest took place before Tyler Media purchased the street furniture and their contract with COTPA, but the design could play into future bus benches and shelters that could eventually be installed. But at least one downtown property owner expressed concern over the current design of the street furniture and possible replacements that might be installed.
Rick Dowell, of Dowell Properties Inc., said he would like to purchase the benches near his properties, create his own designs, pay COTPA for the purchase, and eliminate the advertising. Dowell said that would allow him to install benches that would complement his properties, and downtown, and do away with what he called gaudy ads that adorn many of the benches.
Tyler said he plans to meet with Dowell, and any other property owners, to take their concerns into consideration before any final decisions are made.
Brett Price, president of Urban Neighbors, a group of downtown residents and businesses, said bus stops are a vital part of an urban environment, but he wouldn’t mind seeing benches and bus shelters that were both pleasing to the eye and complementary to downtown. “Anything that would overall enhance the curb appeal downtown we would be in favor of it,” he said.
Another issue that will have to be addressed is making the street furniture and bus stops ADA accessible. Paula Falkenstein, director of the city’s General Services Department and the citywide ADA coordinator, said to be accessible, a bus stop must have a curb ramp and offer room to maneuver a wheelchair. But not every bus stop has to be accessible. Falkenstein said the ADA requires city, state and county services, programs and activities to be accessible when viewed in their entirety. Therefore the ADA assesses each community to determine the number of ADA-accessible services and programs that are required.
Tyler said all ideas and requirements will be looked at in an effort to work to improve the transit system and the aesthetics of street furniture around the city. He said one push will also be to install more shelters rather than just benches. Tyler said the current efforts to gather information are solely his company’s research as a contractor for COTPA. “Our job is to first serve the transit system, which is the city,” he said. “The challenge that we have is we’re trying to design a very compact shelter structure that suits the bus rider but isn’t too obtuse for an area.”
http://www.journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labsBus%20Stop.jpg
A bus stop in downtown Oklahoma City featuring Tyler Media advertising is seen Thursday afternoon. (Photo by James Keathley)