Vandals destroyed six TCAT bus shelters in the Ithaca area, causing financial damages and forcing the transportation company to halt scheduled renovations.
The destruction occurred over the past few weeks, according to a TCAT press release.
“Vandals have smashed out several glass panels at six TCAT bus shelters causing inconvenience to riders and costing TCAT thousands of dollars to repair,” the press release said.
According to the message, the shelters vandalized were located at West Village, Lehman Alternative Community School, Chestnut Hill, State @ Fulton, Albany St. @ Salvation Army, and Tops at Lansing.
Beyond the inconveniences and the repair costs, the damages have resulted in a decision to delay renovating other shelters.
Prior to the vandalism, TCAT had six bus shelters scheduled for replacement. Now, as a result of the vandalism incidents, the agency is holding off on certain renovation projects out of the concern that new and improved shelters would be another target for vandals.
“We are really looking forward to providing our riders with new and improved shelters, but we don’t want to risk those being damaged as well,” said TCAT project manager Megan Pulver in the press release. “This is disappointing to our customers who rely on the shelters to protect them from the elements while waiting for their buses.”
TCAT is a not-for-profit corporation that has a ridership of more than 4 million people every year, covering a distance of about 1.6 million miles, with a fleet of 55 buses.
TCAT urged those who may have information about the incident to contact authorities.