Bus Shelter Makeover/公車候車亭變臉

　To give the city a facelift and foster a green and humane urban life, Kaohsiung Construction Bureau plans to grant incentives to companies taking part in BOT street installation projects.

　According to the bureau, it encourages private investments in the BOT projects to ease the financial burden of city government. The street revamps will be funded and implemented by private companies. After the revamps are finalized, the city government obtains ownerships of the new installations and then entrusts the companies to operate the city's new street furniture. In the process, the city government allocates no budget and puts winners of the renovation projects in full charge of designing and operating the street installations. The partnership between public and private sectors creates a win-win scenario, in that while the companies enrich the city landscape with creative designs, they in turn gain profits from renting out the installations for advertisements.

　During the first stage, a total of 123 sets of bus shelters, chairs and trashcans are scheduled to be set up by June 30. Apart from shielding passengers from rain and sun, the new bus shelters will also provide bus schedules, guidance to destinations, and information about the city. Even news released by the city government will be shown at the shelters. Furthermore, some shelters are equipped with always-on surveillance monitors to ensure the safety of passengers. The second stage will be launched on July 1. After the whole projects are completed, the waiting space and environment of bus stations will be significantly improved.

　　高雄市舊的公車候車亭、站牌、休憩座椅等街道家具，是否讓您覺得毫無美感？為了改變高雄市的城市景觀，追求有生命、具人性、有綠意美質的都市生活，市府建設局以獎勵民間投資參與的BOT方式，更新街道家具，希望一新街道景觀。

　　建設局表示，為避免本計畫執行帶給市府財政沈重的負擔，採取獎勵民間參與興建街道家具辦理，即採BOT的方式進行。由民間機構投資興建，完工後先由政府取得所有權，再委託該民間機構營運，市府不用出任何預算，而由得標的廠商負責規劃設計經營，透過民間的創意豐富都市景觀，而業者可從街道家具廣告看板的出租來獲得收益，達到政府與民間雙贏的策略。

　　第一期街道家俱工程，設置123座候車亭、休憩座椅、垃圾桶，預定6月30日前可完成。公車候車亭不但具備了一般遮陽蔽雨的基本功能，同時提供行車時刻、方向指南及城市訊息，連市府發佈的新聞都可以在候車亭顯示，更特別的是，部分公車候車亭設置了全天候的監視系統，等於是城市第三隻眼，提供候車民眾人身安全保障。第二期工程自7月1日起展開，將全面改善候車空間及環境。