HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — For Cincinnati Metro bus riders who recently saw the bench at their bus stop disappear, this week brought some good news.

The transit agency announced this week it will partner with advertising firm Adsposure to finance the installation and maintenance of 400 new bus stop benches and more than 200 new bus stop shelters across Hamilton County over the next 10 years. The agreement includes the firm investing $3 million to purchase and install the new benches and an additional $5 million to maintain them over the course of the contract.

For Better Bus Coalition President and daily Metro rider Cam Hardy, it was an announcement he's been waiting years to hear.

"It was one of our very first projects," Hardy told WCPO Tuesday via a Zoom video call. "(It was) something that we identified that would be a very easy sell and would appeal to people who might not ride the bus every day."

In July 2018, the grassroots transit advocacy group began constructing small wooden benches to place at bus stops where riders had expressed an urgent need for one. An I-Team investigation later that year showed that only a nominal percentage of Metro bus stops provided a place for riders to sit and wait for their bus. The shortage of seating and shelter at its more than 5,000 bus stops across the county has escalated since the city of Cincinnati began removing existing but under-funded and deteriorating benches in 2013.

"I ride the bus with a lot of elders, a lot of mothers, people who are commuting to grocery stores, things like that," Hardy said. "It's like one day (the benches) were there; the next day people were starting to see them removed... So we decided to create our own."

Last summer, the City Planning Commission approved a new all-metal bench design -- in contrast to the wood-and-concrete benches that were installed previously -- along with new guidelines for where on city sidewalks they could sit. Soon after, Metro installed an initial round of 50 benches.

The hope then was that advertising revenue could pay for those initial 50 as well as more benches down the road. Monday's announcement suggests that hope could become a reality.

"We, for years, have heard from our customers that they want a safe and convenient place to wait for their bus," said Metro spokeswoman Brandy Jones.

Jones said Metro expects to see the new benches and shelters popping up around the county by this fall.

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati Public Schools board of education members say changes have been made to keep students as safe as possible when the school year kicks off Thursday.

Concerns from board members, teachers and parents have been heard loud and clear over the last few weeks following a decision by the SORTA board to eliminate XTRA bus routes thousands of CPS students rely on each year to get to and from school. Instead, CPS middle and high school students will commute alongside adults on the regular Metro routes.

"I think it's a real possibility that this can go pretty well," said school board member Melanie Bates. "We're had discussions with the city, further discussion with SORTA. And people are on the same page about safety for our students."

Last week, representatives from CPS met with SORTA in a private meeting that produced little progress other than an agreement that individuals from both groups needed to work together to make changes ahead of the first day of school.

Ryan Messer, vice president of the school board, was part of that meeting and the conversations since.

"They came together to look site by site. What could we do to make these as safe as possible?" he said. "Life is one percent what happens, 99 percent how you respond."

CPS and Metro are responding with a list of changes to keep students safe. The school board expects more changes will be needed once the school year s tarts.

Metro is adding and changing bus stops at several high schools and adding a few additional routes. Bates said those changes were important to her.

"My worry was the children say from Walnut Hills having to go to Montgomery Road and crossing en masse," Bates said.

Metro also agreed to have shadow buses on standby in case there are routes that do not have enough capacity.

CPS is adding more adult supervision at arrival and dismissal times which will come from school staff, central office staff and school security. School resource officers will also help with pedestrian safety efforts.

"From what I'm hearing it's all hands on deck," Bates said. "Our security guards have been trained as crossing guards. They're now licensed crossing guards."

Staff from Metro will be at each high school orientation to help students learn about public transportation and the Metro system. An unidentified number of Metro staffers will also be present at various transfer points to help guide students at the start of the year.

Students will ride for free for the first few days of school. They will receive bus passes at their respective schools.