Commuters used to waiting patiently for a bus in bone-chilling temperatures could be getting some relief next winter.
City staff are recommending the installation of heaters at some bus shelters around the city.
The recommendation comes in a review of the city’s 2007 street furniture agreement with Astral Media. As part of the 20-year deal, the company installs and maintains street furniture around Toronto while sharing advertising revenue with the city.
The proposed heating devices would be user-activated, providing five minutes of radiant heat at the push of a button when temperatures dip below five degrees Celsius. The heaters could be immediately re-activated at the end of the five minutes.
City staff say it would be feasible to operate the program between Nov. 1 and April 30 each year.
The heaters would be installed at transit shelters where the structure can accommodate them and where there is access to electrical distribution lines. Installation would be prioritized at locations where there is high ridership, but less frequent service.
Heaters would be installed at up to 100 transit shelters over eight years, starting in fall of this year, at a cost of about $19,000 each. However Astral will cover that cost through a modification to the agreement that would require them to provide about 600 fewer newspaper boxes than originally planned.
There are currently around 5,500 shelters installed around the city.
