Bus passengers could be forgiven for doing a double take on Wednesday when a bus decorated in Canberra's iconic bus shelters pulls up.
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Transport Canberra has wrapped a bus with the artworks of Trevor Dickinson, coinciding with his exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
Unveiling the new bus, ACT Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris suggested the government had gone so far as to design the new network with the well-known concrete bus shelters front of mind.
“One of the things that has been contemplated in the new design is the bus stops themselves, so we’ve tried to align the bus stops with these iconic shelters so we have to move less of them,” Ms Fitzharris said.
But details are yet to be released about the fate of the concrete bus shelters themselves. Designed by Clem Cummings in 1975, there are almost 500 of the shelters across the city, and some will not be needed after the dramatic changes to bus routes take effect in early 2019.
It was estimated in early August that about 400 bus stops would made redundant under the new network, with Transport Canberra saying then that the concrete shelters would be relocated across the network.
When asked on Tuesday about the fate of unneeded shelters, Ms Fitzharris said the Dickinson artwork was a way to preserve the shelters "forever in a sense".
Asked whether there would be any attempt to preserve the bus stops no longer needed, Ms Fitzharris said she would "have to take that question on notice". Her spokeswoman later said that all of the shelters no longer needed would be moved and none would be scrapped or sold.
For his part, Mr Dickinson said the bus shelters should "definitely be preserved”.
“It’s not often that you can find a piece of street furniture that can sum up a city,” he said.
Dickinson's bus shelter drawings have featured on products such as mugs, playing cards and beer stubbies.
“I tend to go for things that are a bit less noticed that I feel deserve to be drawn or recorded,” Dickinson said.
“I’ve been travelling around the furthest reaches of Canberra to represent the bus shelters but also to represent the surroundings and the context.”
Ms Fitzharris said Canberrans had fallen in love with Dickinson's work.
“I think Canberrans love these iconic shelters and they also love the way that Trevor has been able to depict them, not only here in the exhibition but also in a range of different products,” she said.
