Gimme the shelters

A more sophisticated version is already in place is several metro stations; now you can stand on the platform and be entertained by news clips, sports highlights and other bytes of eye candy while waiting for the train, all the while knowing that the next one is due to pull into the station in two minutes.

While it's too early to know if these new bus shelters will be just as technologically advanced, the Société de transport de Montréal's (STM) $14 million plan is certainly a step in the right direction. Any added convenience to commuters is a plus for the environment, for it helps to encourage the use of public transportation.

But high-tech innovations are always risky. Take, for example the STM's recent switchover to the new Opus cards, which replace the monthly passes. I have had one for several months now, and although it works very well at metro turnstiles, I have lost count of how many times it has failed to set off the green lights on scanners on each bus. Luckily, drivers will usually wave you past, explaining that there's something wrong with the scanner. Hardly a fool-proof system!

Perhaps the most daunting problem facing designers of high-tech bus shelters is how to discourage vandalism. Existing bus shelters, consisting of four simple transparent walls and a roof, are already prime targets for graffiti taggers and those who take perverse pleasure in shattering entire walls into millions of tiny glass cubes. STM work crews are kept busy cleaning up these messes, and there is a risk that their services will be even more in demand with the emergence of electronic screens. Don't forget, the big screens in metro stations are mounted well out of reach.

Like the Opus card, electronic bus shelters are a great idea in theory, and if the right precautions are taken and all the bugs worked out, they could be a welcome addition to our public transport system.