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Moving to shatter-proof material after pilot project

More bus shelters to get panel upgrades

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/03/10/city-replacing-mor...

THE city is installing more shatter- proof bus shelters after a pilot project proved to be a smashing success.

By the end of 2026, more than 70 shelters will have their glass panels replaced with polycarbonate panels. The city is receiving a large shipment of the material in April to equip 47 regular-sized shelters and three large shelters by the end of the year.

“This went better than we could have ever imagined,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chair of the public works committee.

In the fall, the city installed the polycarbonate material, which is 250 times more impact-resistant than safety glass, at 22 transit shelters in locations chosen based on high rates of vandalism.

Of that number, the polycarbonate panels were left intact in 14 shelters, panels were popped out of place in six locations and one had its panels replaced after a motor vehicle collision. The panels survived the vehicle’s impact but they were stolen before crews arrived.

The 22nd pilot shelter is owned by Astral Media Outdoor and has not sustained any damage, Winnipeg Transit spokesperson Brandon Logan said.

The material cost for polycarbonate per shelter is about $4,000 — about 15 per cent more than glass — but Lukes (Waverley West) said the initial cost is worth it when factoring in the cost of labour and replacement glass for damaged shelters.

Because of the success of the pilot, the city also installed double-layered panels on all 24 of its display signs along the rapid transit system, and the city is in the process of replacing the screens.

“So now they won’t be broken and they’ll actually work,” Lukes said.

The city’s long-term goal is to continue replacing the glass shelters with polycarbonate panels, Lukes said.

The city installed the polycarbonate panels at “high-use” bus stops but keeps their exact locations under wraps to prevent anyone from purposely testing their strength.

Polycarbonate is used by several other Canadian transit systems. The city opted to test polycarbonate for its bus shelters, in part, due to the increasing frequency of replacing glass panels due to vandalism.

The city spent $23,873.84 in 2025 to replace glass in bus shelters in 2025, way down from the $147,593.90 spent in 2024. Logan attributed the decrease in cost to Winnipeg Transit removing about 150 shelters from stops as part of the city’s transit network overhaul.

Glass from those shelters were put back into inventory for use in repairs.

Of the shelters removed as part of the transit overhaul, 54 were deemed to be at the end of their useful lives and 37 were relocated to existing stops that previously did not have shelters. Fourteen of the shelters removed during will be moved to new stop locations, Logan said.

Vandalism at bus shelters has grown in recent years, city data shows.

Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 28, 2025 the city repaired 349 glass shelters — the second-highest number over the past five years. City data shows 267 bus shelters were impacted by broken glass in 2021, followed by 361 in 2022, 305 in 2023 and 237 in 2024.

As of Tuesday, 19 shelters across Winnipeg are still missing glass panels.

Winnipeg Transit is also exploring the option of replacing its driver shields to partial or full enclosures made of the polycarbonate material, said Lukes, who is also a member of the city’s transit advisory committee.

James Van Gerwen, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, was not available for comment Tuesday.

The city has about 735 shelters across Winnipeg. Of those, 534 are owned and maintained by Winnipeg Transit and 60 are owned by Winnipeg Transit but maintained by other organizations. Astral, the city’s advertising contractor, has approximately 141 shelters across the city that it maintains. Once the contract expires, ownership of the shelters is transferred to the city, Logan said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.camailto:nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca