Riga’s new bus shelters face complaints over placement and design

Riga plans to install about 500 bus shelters with a unified design, but some passengers are unhappy with the new structures, LSM reported. About 170 have been installed so far.

At a public transport stop on Dzeņu Street in the Pļavnieki neighbourhood, resident Sandra said the shelter stands too close to the road and has no side panels to protect passengers from wind and rain.

Ieva Grīsle, a project coordinator in the Riga municipality’s External Communications Department, said underground utilities and their protected zones meant the shelter had to be placed closer to the road than the previous one. Side panels were also ruled out because a bus entering the stop could catch them with its mirrors.

The city has designed four shelter modules, as well as versions with green roofs, and selects an option to suit each stop. Where the standard designs do not fit, the municipality considers other solutions, such as benches. Grīsle said only a handful of stops currently cannot use the standard options, but the city would consider a new solution if more such cases arise.

Asked whether passing cars might splash rainwater onto passengers, Grīsle said that depended on the drainage system. The city inspects and regularly cleans street drains, which can become clogged with fallen leaves in autumn.