[IMAGE]SF-3.jpg[/IMAGE]The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees the Municipal Railway (Muni) and all surface transportation in the city, announced that the 100th new transit shelter was recently put into place.

Installations began on a trial basis in May 2009 with full implementation beginning in March. The installations follow a two-year process to develop, design and fabricate the new shelters, which were created with the SFMTA's transit shelter advertising and maintenance contractor, Clear Channel Outdoor, in partnership with the San Francisco-based architecture team Lundberg Design.

San Francisco's new transit shelters have more information and provide greater accessibility than the ones they are replacing. More information includes two maps and a large space for transit information. As NextMuni signs become available, each shelter that has a usable power source will have both the NextMuni display as well as the accompanying Push-to-Talk system to read the NextMuni information for those who are visually impaired.

The shelters also include an open space at the back to further improve accessibility. The removal of one back panel enhances wheelchair access and provides a better path for both wheelchair users and other customers to exit from vehicles through the shelters.

Additionally, some of the new transit shelters will use third-generation organic-dye-based photovoltaic solar film to power the shelter lights and information systems. The structures of the new shelters use steel with high-recycled content as well as energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The florescent lights in the current shelters use 336 watts; the new LED panels use only 74.4 watts, making them four-and-a-half times more energy efficient.

The SFMTA's transit shelter advertising and maintenance contract requires Clear Channel to provide the new shelters and replace the existing 1,100 shelters with them no later than the end of 2013. The contract will generate at least $300 million for the SFMTA over the 20-year term of the contract.