From Bridgeport, Connecticut: "Solar-powered bus stop makes Earth Day debut," by John Burgeson

This story originally appeared the Connecticut Post website, ConnPost.Com, at this address:
http://www.connpost.com/ci_12190054. This link no longer exists. A copy of the original story appears below.


In conjunction with Earth Day, Greater Bridgeport Transit is rolling out its first solar-powered bus stop. While some might think that "powered" and "bus stop" don't belong in the same sentence, transit officials say there's a need to power bus stops ---- to provide illumination for riders on gloomy nights.

But it's impractical to wire up bus stops to the power grid because trenching wire conduits is costly, and over time, stops are moved from one intersection to the next. Then there's the matter of paying the light bill.

Enter the latest trend on the public transit scene -- the solar-powered bus stop. Called the "i-Stop" by its manufacturer, Carmanah Technologies of Victoria, B.C., the units sell for about $1,400 each and have been purchased by more than 80 transit districts in such places as London, Miami, Atlanta and Orange County, Calif.

Some school districts have shown interest in the units, too.

"This is a test," said Ron Kilcoyne, CEO of Greater Bridgeport Transit. "We wanted to see how it worked before we make a major investment in the units."

At Park Avenue and Atlantic Street in the South End, the "i-Stop" bus stop illuminates the area after daylight hours by using stored solar energy.

Kilcoyne said the i-Stop is best suited to bus stops that see a fair amount of passenger traffic at night. They should be particularly useful in the late fall and winter, when both early morning and evening commutes occur in the dark.

"The worst thing to do is to get something like this and find out that it requires a lot of maintenance, or that the riders or the drivers don't like them for some reason," he said.

GBT has about 1,450 bus stops in all. Of these, about 50 stops have shelters, and GBT hopes to have an additional 30 to 50 shelters in place over the coming months.

The 12-foot-tall i-Stop unit has two buttons. One turns on the light to illuminate the stop for a few minutes. The second activates an LED light that flashes in the direction of an approaching bus to signal the driver to stop. The i-Stop's lights are powered by a battery that builds up electricity throughout the day from a solar cell mounted on top. Carmanah also sells a solar-powered bus shelter that the company calls "i-Panel." Doug Holcomb, the transit agency's planning and service development officer, said the GBT is looking into purchasing a few of the i-Panel shelters, too.

Also to celebrate Earth Day, the transit agency Wednesday will be handing out tree saplings, T-shirts and reusable shopping bags made from recycled materials at the Water Street bus terminal. The T-shirt was designed by local artist Jack Tom working from his studio in the Read's Artspace Building in downtown Bridgeport.

"Giving the T-shirts, saplings and shopping bags is a way for us to help our riders be green and say 'thank you' to them for taking the bus," Kilcoyne said.