septemberoctober2024 - 28

Bus Shelters
the Texas Student Honor Award from
the American Society of Landscape Architects
in 2023.
" The partnership with DART was an
amazing experience for our students
to test their design capabilities while
learning to fit in the public's everyday
needs in a bus shelter, " said Julia Lindgren,
assistant professor of architecture
at UTA. " We were honored to have our
students' work recognized and now,
seeing some of those ideas and concepts
incorporated into the prototype
bus shelters DART is using to gauge
public feedback, it's even more impressive.
This is the type of real-world
experience you want for your students
as an instructor. "
DART will determine if all three of
Residents
waiting at a
DART Next
Generation Bus
Shelter.
Photo: DART
Stringer and her team developed a survey to collect feedback
from DART stakeholders, including riders, on the appearance,
design, construction, technological enhancements and other
features of the new shelters.
The 16 UTA students who participated in the concept
design program provided insights by riding the system to
determine perceived strengths and weaknesses, interviewing
the new bus shelter prototypes will fit its
needs as is, if changes need to be made
to the current prototypes or if it can
simplify and use a two-model system.
Feedback gathered in 2023 determined
that riders wanted more protection from
the elements, improved lighting for
safety and visibility and real-time bus
arrival information as top priorities for
the new design.
The new shelters incorporate those
Residents
waiting at a
DART Next
Generation Bus
Shelter.
Photo: DART
riders, visiting and analyzing spaces at key destinations and
attending focus groups with key stakeholders. DART then
partnered with Tolar Manufacturing Company and utilized
the UTA student concepts to create a shelter based on feedback
previously gathered from DART bus riders asking what they
wanted and needed from a bus shelter.
Lopez and her fellow UTA classmates used those details
and their own research to create a concept shelter that earned
28 Mass Transit | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
priorities within the two larger models
- standard-width and slim-width
shelters - and feature Alucobond in the
roof panels, designed to have cooling
properties beyond that of standard aluminum,
and perforated back and side
panels to allow for improved air flow.
They also feature built-in composite
high-density polyethylene benches,
solar-powered LED lighting with improved
light levels and remote monitoring,
allowing for quicker repairs and
enhanced customer safety, electronic
displays that share real-time bus arrival
information and allows for the
agency to push out urgent messaging,
including major system-wide delays or
weather-related incidents that impact
service, a backlit system map display
and slim perforated panel that provides
increased visibility for bus operators,
which should reduce pass-bys.
" The Tolar Manufacturing team appreciates
the opportunity to collaborate
with DART staff and UTA students and
septemberoctober2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of septemberoctober2024
