South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) (Wilsonville, Oregon)
About
South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) operates a full service, dependable transportation system offering a convenient and easy way to travel within Wilsonville, OR and outlying areas, including Canby, Salem, and the south end of Portland. This has been especially important to Wilsonville, since the city’s 18,000 employees come primarily from outside the area, with over 91% commuting in to their jobs.
Solution
After a competitive RFP process, SMART partnered with Urban Solar and Axentia to add pole-mounted e-paper displays and PV Stop+ lighting at 21 bus stops. With installation completed in August 2023, SMART has successfully deployed solar powered lighting and real time information for their riders, increasing safety and reliability throughout the Wilsonville transit system. Adding features like braille and text-to-speech announcements in both English and Spanish, SMART’s display-equipped stops are also accessible for the whole community.
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin)
About
The University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW) manages over 70 bus shelters and stops throughout campus, which are serviced by Madison Metro Transit. UW Transportation Services aims to create an experience at each bus stop that encourages public transit use amongst students and staff. With “one of the lowest parking per employee ratios of any peer university in the country”, they are a prime candidate to push sustainable transportation.
Solution
Through a student-led sustainability project beginning in 2021, the campus researched and released a bid for solar powered lighting and digital informational displays. Looking for both system performance and aesthetics, UW opted for custom flexible solar panels that would adhere seamlessly to existing bus shelter roofs. This solar was then used to power the added lighting and e-paper displays mounted under each shelter. The project includes 3 phases, with a total of 47 bus shelters over 3 years; the first phase of 20 was installed in June 2023 and has already received positive feedback from the UW community.
Once completed, the bus shelter project will allow Transportation Services to improve the commuter experience, and to do it sustainably.
Learn more about this project here
Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) (Orange County, California)
About
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is one of the largest transit agencies in the United States with 50 million riders annually across 34 cities within the Orange County area. The Authority is committed to continuously improving passenger amenities at bus stops as part of its ongoing strategy to optimize the rider experience and to connect people safely and efficiently to the places they want to be, whether it is for work, school or entertainment.
Solution
In the project pictured, OCTA selected Urban Solar as its partner to improve 23 bus stops with real-time information displays and security lighting on Route 553 along Main Street in the city of Santa Ana. Since 2016, OCTA has deployed 600+ Urban Solar solutions, including both pole and shelter mounted lighting systems as well as e-paper digital signage.
Adding both solar and digital amenities at their stops, OCTA is able to create safer, efficient and brightly lit bus stops. This not only reduce pass-bys, but capitalizes on Orange County’s consistent sunlight and OCTA’s need for an off-grid lighting solution.
King County Metro (Seattle, Washington)
About
King County Metro is one of the 10 largest public bus agencies in the United States, with 8,000 bus stops and more than 1,800 shelters.
Investment in new products, technologies, and service improvements for its extensive service area are helping them to streamline their operations. Since 2011, Urban Solar has been a part of fulfilling those demands.
Known for its dark and cloudy Pacific Northwest weather in the winter, and heavily shaded urban locations, Seattle can be a challenging environment for solar power and lighting options. King County required a robust, well-engineered solar lighting system that could operate in those conditions, and a team with the expertise needed to design it for maximum efficiency.
Solution
Following a competitive request-for-proposals process in 2011, King County officials selected Urban Solar’s transit shelter solar lighting model RMS 120. These systems have helped them to provide safe and reliable lighting to the region’s transit riders, even throughout the winter when low light levels might make it difficult for other products to charge effectively.
King County currently maintains a contract in which Transit Agencies and cities across the United States can leverage to purchase our products without going out for public procurement. Ask our team about how to use this contract if you’d like to add solar to your transit stops.
Interested in more information?
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