by Cam Lucadou-Wells
Commuters without bus stop shelters will seemingly have to suffer in rain, wind and shine for at least three more years under a long-running advertising contract.
Keysborough South Ward councillor Rhonda Garad says the situation was “particularly dire” in the new Keysborough estates that “currently have no bus shelters at all”.
“It is unacceptable that residents have to sit in extreme heat or pouring rain when waiting for a bus.”
It was deterring particularly older and more vulnerable residents from catching buses.
Currently only about 200 of the 740 bus stops in Greater Dandenong have shelters.
Garad says that there will be no new bus shelters until 2026 – that is the expiry date of a 20-year contract between the council, advertising firm oOh! Media and the Department of Transport and Planning.
Under the agreement, the council area initially received 150 bus shelters at no cost in 2006.
In exchange, oOh! Media received advertising space on 75 shelters, including exclusivity on shelters in Greater Dandenong.
“The aging infrastructure, coupled with the council’s lack of budget for new or maintained shelters, has led to a dire situation where shelters are not replaced when unsafe,” Garad said.
“The DTP, holding primary responsibility but constrained by reliance on advertising revenue, will not install new shelters until the oOh! Media contract expires in late 2026.
“I don’t believe the council can leave the residents exposed for three more years.
“And there’s still no guarantee of new shelters beyond that date.”
Keysborough Ward councillor Tim Dark described seeing commuters “hiding” under trees 50 metres away from bus stops without shelters on Perry Road.
There was also a need for new and renewed shelters across Greater Dandenong, he said.
Dark called for the council to explore a contract variation for new shelters in exchange for more advertising opportunities for oOh! Media.
“There always seems to be a level of advertising (in the shelters) which tells me there’s profitability in it (for oOh! Media).
“I would be surprised if they wouldn’t.”
An oOh! Media spokesperson told Star Journal that “we are always open to engaging collaboratively with relevant stakeholders about their infrastructure needs”.
Councillors have been denied a copy of the contract by the council’s City Futures executive director Sanjay Manivasagasivam who cited “commercial-in-confidence”, Cr Dark said.
This is despite Manivasagasivam telling a 26 February council meeting that he himself had not read the contract.
When asked about the council’s scope to renegotiate the contract, Manivasagasivam said that generally the DTP would have more oversight over the contract than the council.
However a DTP spokesperson told Star Journal that “DTP is not privy to the specifics of the current contractual arrangement between City of Dandenong and oOh! Media”.
“So (I) cannot confirm any details such as shelter construction volumes, length of the agreement or other commercial elements,” the spokesperson said.
Manivasagasivam said the council will continue advocating to the DTP for bus shelter funding.
