All of Nottingham's bus shelters will be either refurbished or replaced as the city council tries to generate more revenue from them. With the estate of 823 bus shelters reaching 25-years-old, Nottingham City Council says making them digital could earn the authority £6 million over the next 15 years.
Over 200 Nottingham bus shelters currently have advertising, but none of them feature the modern digital billboards now favoured by companies. All of them instead involve posters having to be physically installed, something which the city council says is "laborious."
The bus shelters will therefore be refurbished or replaced in the coming months, with a new contract for the supply and maintenance of them due to begin next January. James Howe, the Public Transport Operations Team Leader at Nottingham City Council, writes in a report being presented at a meeting on January 9: "A new advertising concession will allow for the provision of digital advertising panels where appropriate which will make this a more attractive opportunity for potential providers.
Do you agree with the council's plans to increase traffic enforcement? Let us know here.
"This in turn should provide more income generation for the council and thereby help to alleviate budget pressures... Countering the increased revenue generation opportunity is the fact that the non-advertising as well as advertising bus shelters are close to being 25 years old and will need to be replaced or potentially refurbished.
"Despite this, an increased net income across assets should be achievable." The total estate comprises 213 advertising bus shelters, 619 non-advertising bus shelters and 27 free-standing units in the city centre.
The current contract, with JCDecaux, comes to an end on December 31 and the city council says it is seeking a detailed exit plan from the company. Better lighting at the bus shelters to "increase the safety of public transport users" are also among the improvements that could be made.