New and improved bus shelters are popping up across Hampton Roads

Gavin Stone, The Virginian-Pilot
·2 min read

Local bus passengers will have a more comfortable wait in the coming years as Hampton Roads Transit looks to add 620 new and improved bus shelters in the area by 2027.

Since February 2021, the transit agency has installed more than 100 new shelters, and more are being built weekly. The new shelters will be equipped with solar-powered lighting, benches and a trash can, according to HRT spokesperson Alexis Majied.

HRT has 2,700 bus stops in the region, and only about 200 of them had a shelter, bench or both prior to February 2021, Majied said. All the old shelters were replaced in 2020, and the new amenities are being added at stops that have not previously had any.

“One of our top priorities is to improve the customer experience, and that includes what they encounter while at the bus stop,” Majied said in an email. “The goal is to have 620 stops with some form of passenger amenity — a shelter, bench or both.”

The funding for the new shelters, along with the planned 757 Express routes, was approved by the Virginia General Assembly in 2020. Each shelter costs $11,480 plus an additional $3,000 for the concrete pads they are built on, according to Majied.

The first of the 757 Express routes will launch in October. The project will initially mean buses will be available at 15-minute intervals during peak traffic in the morning and afternoon, and the end goal is to offer buses every 15 minutes throughout the day on most of the 13 routes HRT has identified as being the “backbone” of the local transit system, Majied said.

So far, HRT has received 24 new buses for service improvements on the Peninsula, and they will add another 24 buses to serve South Hampton Roads once the service improvements are implemented there, according to Majied.

Bus fees will not be increased to fund any of the upcoming improvements.

“The bus shelters, new buses and increased frequency are being funded through the Hampton Roads Regional Transit Fund,” Majied said.

Gavin Stone, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com