Street Furniture RFP to be Issued by End of 2009
By the end of the year the City will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide, maintain and sell advertising for bus shelters in Philadelphia. The RFP will also invite proposals for additional pieces of street furniture. Street furniture is the collective term referring to objects and pieces of equipment installed on streets and sidewalks that are intended for public use. Transit/bus shelters and newspaper boxes are examples of street furniture currently in use in Philadelphia.
This contract will have a dramatic impact on Philadelphia’s streetscapes, and can help to provide needed amenities to our communities. Let the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities know what is important to you by completing this survey.
New Contract Postponed
The City of Philadelphia issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Coordinated Street Furniture in December of 2006. Street furniture includes items such as bus shelters, trash cans, newspaper corrals, benches and kiosks. Three bidders, Clean Channel, Wall USA and CBS Outdoors have submitted proposals for the contract. In November 2007, the Street Administration tapped ClearChannel for the contract, but City Council held off on introducing the necessary legislation.
The Next Great City coalition reviewed the RFP and had many concerns. You can see a fact sheet about those concerns here, which include:
a lack of public invovlement, particularly in coordinating with civic associations and community development corporations that have already spent time and money in developing plans for street furniture in their neighborhoods
lack of a clear process for maintenance of furniture- such as removing graffiti and replacing broken structures
exclusion of community members on design review committee
lack of additional amenities such as maps, schedules, bike racks or even the possibility of a public bike sharing system
the replacement of existing shelters before providing them to neighborhoods without any shelters
issues of equity in getting shelters and other furniture placed in neighborhoods that advertisers find less desirable
On February 14, 2008, Mayor Nutter released his annual budget and 5-year budget plan. In that plan, he pledged that his administration would issue a new Request for Proposals for a Street Furniture Program. The Next Great City coalition will continue to work to make sure that the RFP addresses all of our concerns and is done with community input.
