Vandalism of Bus Shelters

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tonyw
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Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by tonyw »

What if anything can be done about this? Riding around on the system I am distressed to see the constant total destruction of these bus shelters. I travel through Box Hill, Doncaster and Templestowe daily and there has clearly been a systematic destruction campaign over the last few days. I used to live in Greenwood Drive Bundoora and the feral shits would systematically smash the bus stops one after another over the length of G'wood Drive over a week.

Where the hell are the police? Are there ANY cars out on patrol at night?

Have we got to the point where society no longer deserves nice glass bus shelters? Do we need to make them out of security mesh like pay phone boxes.

Is there any hope for our society? I sense we are getting like Britain and the USA, we are heading towards a less safe society, more anarchy. It's a worry.

Governments, both state and federal have NO MONEY FOR ANYTHING. I think we are screwed.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by funbus »

Ive said it before on the forum many times. The idiot thinkers who create these pretty bus shellers forget, the world isn't full of nice people, and when i see there window cleaners come and clean them etc, WTF!

They must get rid of the glass, put plastic type strong perspects and hard plastic material, which can not be broken very easily. [Like telstra did when phone boxes were a common sight, after all there vandalism], and use materials which will be durable :oops:
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by howlerbus »

It took a week for a new shelter at my bus stop in Ballarat to be graffitied, but at least it was only spray painted, not smashed.
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cal321
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by cal321 »

Yesterday I noticed many along Centre Rd, East Bentleigh had also been targeted. Totally agree with funbus, glass looks great but is not practical. Bus shelters and glass just don't go together.

Glass bus shelters will be continue to be targeted while certain idiots are wandering the streets with nothing else to do.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by huyie »

http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/star/we ... 52382.html
Star News Group wrote: HUNDREDS of bus shelters across the West have been smashed and vandalised over the past 17 months, posing a danger to commuters.

Figures exclusively obtained by Star reveal 770 bus stop glass panels required repairing last year across Wyndham, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong.

During the first five months of this year, another 417 have also been repaired across the four municipalities.

Brimbank recorded the most damage, with 600 repairs needed, followed by Wyndham with more than 280, Hobsons Bay on 183 and 120 in Maribyrnong.

Public Transport Victoria has a contract with the company Adshel to clean and repair bus shelters, in 21 municipalities across metropolitan Melbourne.

“Vandalism of any transport infrastructure is a serious concern and we encourage the community to report antisocial behaviour to the police,” a Public Transport Victoria (PTV) spokesperson said.

But due to commercial confidentiality, they cannot disclose the amount paid to fix the shelters.

President of the Public Transport Users Association in Melbourne, Daniel Bowen, said offenders who damaged bus shelters were inconveniencing commuters.

“Obviously damaged bus shelters could well be unusable, and given the wind and rain over winter, could mean a cold wet wait for passengers at bus stops,” he said.

“Such vandalism of community facilities cannot be tolerated.”

Western Region MP Bernie Finn said offenders who damaged bus shelters needed to realise the seriousness of their actions.

“I have actually viewed the product of these lunatics and my opinion is that police should track them down and lock them up,” he said.

“Clearly, this is an act of someone who needs to be kept away from the rest of us.”

The PTV spokesperson said glass was the best material for constructing bus stops, as it meant drivers could see waiting passengers, it provided better shelter than mesh and was easier to clean graffiti off, compared to perspex.

"In the past we have attempted to build bus shelters with materials such as perspex, mesh and steel, but glass has proven to be the better option,” they said.

Damaged bus shelters can be reported to the Adshel hotline on 1800 501 402.
Obviously the issue isn't isolated to just certain areas, but rather the whole of Melbourne. Interesting to see that PTV mention glass as the 'better option' though.
Plastic types would be a pain to clean graffiti wise, whereas mesh doesn't do well to shelter against wind. Can't see glass doing well when it gets shattered. The advertising panel is usually always glass though. Maybe it's worth going back to those old concrete style bus shelters for the back panel (even if it isn't as aesthetically pleasing), and stick with glass for the sides, so that drivers can still see the passengers. At least it would help to reduce the repair bill and minimise the damage somewhat?

I also think it also costs something in the order of $1500 to replace the glass per bus shelter.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by dex »

Never seen one completely not smashed in Greenvale. Every night theyre smashed.
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cal321
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by cal321 »

I agree with Huyie's idea. Concrete on the rear of the bus shelter and glass on each end - that would be a compromise. One things is for sure, the millions and millions spent on replacing glass on bus shelters could be better used in other areas of public transport.
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krustyklo
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by krustyklo »

The problem is that other types of material has problems too. The mesh lets the wind in and is little better than no shelter at all and the perspex / plastic gets attacked by cigarette lighters. I would have thought stronger glass would be a better option - I was of the understanding that pure glass for example is quite strong if expensive to manufacture.
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Derwent
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Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Derwent »

Break it three times in a year and they stop putting new glass in....respect it or lose it!
That or mount a small camera to watch them and prosecute EVERY offense...
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Peter1805 »

Derwent wrote:Break it three times in a year and they stop putting new glass in....respect it or lose it!
That or mount a small camera to watch them and prosecute EVERY offense...
The idea of mounting cameras at random or in some highly targeted areas is a good idea, but then there would also have to be law enforcement follow-up, which would mean convincing politicians and police command of the need to direct sufficient resources to investigation and prosecution of offenders.
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Derwent
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Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Derwent »

If the bus company makes an official complaint and provides video evidence the police are obliged to follow it up.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Peter1805 »

Derwent wrote:If the bus company makes an official complaint and provides video evidence the police are obliged to follow it up.
Bus shelters are not a bus company responsibility are they? Surely they are the responsibility of the Department of Transport?
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by system improver »

Peter1805 wrote:...Bus shelters are not a bus company responsibility are they? Surely they are the responsibility of the Department of Transport?
Local councils have the responsibility and most are covered by an Adshel contract delivered through PTV. But some councils do their own thing e.g. Monash and Stonnington, which have long contracts with JC Decaux. At least one council does it internally, Nillumbik.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by dex »

Here's a fact for ya, the frame is built by a different company that install the glass. Two separate companies.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by CB80 »

dex
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by dex »

$193,000,000.00


:shock:
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Derwent
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Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Derwent »

I think the ones down here are put up and maintained by Metro...
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by metro transit »

They claim that glass is easier to clean graffiti off, well most if not all bus shelters get scratched so badly and when you see them wash the windows, what a waste of time. Very rarely do they ever get sprayed on or drawn on with a marker.

At least with concrete it can be painted over and not scratched.
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V981
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by V981 »

What we do need to consider is, would these bus shelters be less prone to vandalism if they were serviced by a premium service such as Smartbus??? :wink:
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tonyw
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by tonyw »

Smartbus routes are targetted just as much as any other.
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by krustyklo »

What we do need to consider is, would these bus shelters be less prone to vandalism if they were serviced by a premium service such as Smartbus???
Maybe we should have SmartStops? Anyone up for a webpage? :wink:
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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by Connex »

Maybe Adshel needs to look at finding a new glass supplier - 3M perhaps? :P

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Re: Vandalism of Bus Shelters

Post by dex »

Try backing a car into it with a tow bar. Moneys yours!
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