Socially exclusive patterns in the availability and number of bus stop shelters

Bus stop shelters play a fundamental role in providing access to public transport. However, the broad impacts of adopted criteria for assigning shelters to bus stops have been underexplored in the literature. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how bus stop shelters have been distributed in São Paulo (Brazil), investigating the impact of 23 socioeconomic, land use and transport system factors on the presence and number of stop shelters in 20,988 bus stops through a negative binomial logit hurdle model. Results showed that bus stops on arterial roads, served by multiple lines and higher-frequency lines, surrounded by schools, higher-income and sparsely populated areas tend to have more shelters. Transport system features were consistently related to the presence and number of bus shelters, whereas socioeconomic features had a higher share of participation in the availability of a stop shelter, and land use variables in the occurrence of multiple shelters. The paper adds to the literature the characterization of socio-spatial patterns, which are statistically associated with the distribution of bus stop shelters, including the effect of land use (industrial, park and school areas) and transport network (bus corridors, cyclepaths and arterial roads) features. Criteria adopted by transit agencies have caused a socially exclusive distribution not only in the availability of a shelter, but also in the number of shelters, for sheltered stops. Results highlight the need for a more equitable approach to distributive justice and the urgency of incorporating bus stop shelters into accessibility equity analyses.