CITY'S 19 NEW BUS SHELTERS MAKE A DENT IN NEED: ONLY 400 MORE TO GO...

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Readers of this blog know we have been vocal about the meager number of shelters and benches for the city's 600 bus stops, with less than one third offering as much as a roof and/or a bench.

Now, today, there is an item on the city commissioner's agenda that will add another 19 shelters to the city's continuing efforts to catch up on its neglect of protection for bus riders. An item recommends that they allot 450,000  to purchase 19 slim bus shelters in order to protect the bus riders from the harsh elements and provide a bench to ease the wait time. 

The shelters will have USB chargers, solar lighting, benches, advertising panels, and route map panel space. Seventeen shelters will consist of 3 seat benches and two with 6-seat benches. The vendor recommended by the city administration is EngoPlanet, of Houston. 

The city – after bungling around for two years – finally got around this year to build 30 of them, simple affairs with benches, metal-screened walls and solar-powered florescent lights and USB connections. But after saying that they would cost the city around $611,270 for the construction of 30 shelters, they tweaked down the construction cost to $345,067, resulting in a savings of $266,203, to average about $21,906 per shelter.

Compare this with the $1,003,345 for 32 shelters that the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) approved in one of their past meetings. Divide that figure by 30 and what will it cost per shelter? Would you believe $31,354, or $9,448 more than a city-built shelter.

Oh, well, it's Other People's Money (OPM). Will the BCIC shelters require that bus riders adhere to a dress code so as not to diminish their grandeur?

The item in today's agenda indicates that the EnGo Smart Solar Shelter 3-Seater (17) will average $23,000 per shelter. The six-seater average $24,000. Estimated date of delivery is December 31, 2024.