0757 Bus Shelters and Advertising

Under the proposed agreement and the proposed arrangements with the new contractor ECC will be the Lead Party and will procure a ‘concession’ contract with a supplier where ECC will become the owner of all district council owned bus shelters in Essex. The bus shelters currently owned by contractors – mainly those used for advertising - will be removed by the outgoing contractor unless they are transferred to ECC.

ECC will use capital money to buy new bus shelters from the new contractor to replace those removed and, subject to funding being available, in additional locations. The Contractor will sell advertising, where viable, on the shelters and maintain all shelters. In selling advertising, the contractor will comply with our advertising policy and ECC will retain right to direct removal of any advertisement it considers to be unsuitable. ECC will receive a minimum income and there will be a profit-sharing mechanism where ECC and the contractor split income. Any surplus funds will be spent on bus infrastructure. In addition to the Council becoming the owner of all bus shelters currently owned by district councils, it would be agreed that bus shelters in all new locations would similarly be provided via the contract.

This will provide a larger estate to leverage the best commercially-focussed, concession contract from the market. For clarity, Parish and Town Council owned shelters are not included in the scope of the contract. The contract will enable those Councils to purchase shelters through it, via the current and established Local Highways Panel process, enabling an alignment, over time, with the new, consistent bus shelter estate desired. The contract would require the contractor to undertake a pro-active maintenance programme for shelters, to ensure a higher quality standard than is currently consistently achieved across Essex. The implementation of this contract forms part of the Council’s wider approach to increasing sustainable transport use across the County. The increase in bus shelters across the County aides the comfort of bus passengers and increases the likelihood of those services being accessed by new users.