The aluminum-skinned Slough Bus Station in the UK, which was designed by bblur and opened in 2011, stood as a rare example of adventurous architecture aimed at bus riders. It was damaged by a fire in 2022 and remains closed.
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What a Beautiful Bus Stop Can Do
Stations and shelters for bus riders don’t get much design attention from architects. A new study argues that quality aesthetics and amenities pay off for transit operators.
Would you pay more to wait at a prettier bus stop? According to a recently published study, you would. And you might even be willing to take a longer journey to use it.
A team of Italian researchers surveyed riders at Lampugnano bus station outside of Milan and handed them virtual reality headsets that showed them an improved version of the bare-bones suburban depot, spiffed up with comfortable benches, a bright platform and upscale shopping facilities. The result: The roughly 300 respondents would be willing to pay an average €4.35 ($4.71) more per trip or travel up to 28.2 minutes longer to use the more high-quality version.