Los Gatos Has New VTA Bus Shelters

Riders waiting to catch the 48 or the 49 community buses in Los Gatos now have six cozy new shelters to enjoy which were recently installed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Installed in December, each shelter costs about $11,000 and will be maintained by Clear Channel Outdoors.

The company partners with the VTA to purchase the shelters, giving it the ability to sell advertising space on them, said VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress.

Clear Channel will make annual and quarterly payments to VTA, with a share given to participating towns, including Los Gatos, Childress added.

The new shelters replaced old ones that were between 25 to 30 years old, according to Childress.

The shelters will serve community bus route 48, which runs from the to the Winchester Transit Center via Winchester Boulevard and community bus route 49, which travels from the Los Gatos Civic Center to the
Winchester Transit Center via Los Gatos Boulevard.

On an average weekday, line 48 carries approximately 350 passengers a day and line 49 carries close to 300, Childress added. For the month of November, a total of 8,471 passengers took line 48 and 7,039 took line 49, Childress said.

The new bus shelters are located at:

1. Eastbound Main Street at Los Gatos Civic Center

2. Northbound University Avenue at

3. Northbound Santa Cruz Avenue north of Los Gatos-Saratoga Road

4. Northbound Los Gatos Boulevard, north of Blossom Hill Road

5. Westbound Knowles Drive and east of Dardenelli Lane

6. Westbound Pollard Road at

Clear Channel is supposed to maintain the shelters on a weekly basis. Passengers can report graffiti or vandalism on the shelters by either calling the bus shelter hotline 1-800-adshel-1 or VTA customer service at 408-321-2300.

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