Most people who have to wait for a bus would prefer to do it in the comfort of a transit shelter.

But what if the bus isn’t coming?

That’s the situation outside the main entrance to the Scarborough Grace Hospital, where a TTC bus stop was recently relocated about 100 metres north of the old one, but the glass shelter was not moved.

Anyone who uses TTC buses or streetcars places a premium on transit shelters that offer cover from the weather. And with winter just around the corner, the importance of the proximity of shelters will only go up.

But when a shelter remains in place after the TTC bus stop has been moved, it can confuse riders — especially those who are sick or preoccupied with the illness of a family member.

We got a note earlier this week from Pauline Cartledge, who says that some hospital patients who don’t realize that the shelter has been moved are still sitting in it, watching buses whiz past and wondering why.

After extensive construction on Birchmount Rd., north of Finch Ave., the main TTC stop for the hospital was relocated, but the cozy glass shelter was left where it’s been for many years, said Cartledge.

“The point is that new visitors and patients are not always aware of the change,” she said.

“We have actually had to redirect a frail patient to the proper stop.

“With cold weather approaching, no one wants to either miss their bus or stand out in the cold.”

A second nearby TTC stop at Birchmount and Brookmill Blvd. was relocated after the construction, said Cartledge, but a shelter also remains in place at that location.

She proposed an interesting idea: Move the shelter from Brookmill to the new TTC stop, north of the former stop, but leave the shelter that’s there in place, so that people can use it to wait for taxis, while posting signs to redirect transit riders up the street.

Status: Ryan Lanyon, who’s in charge of city street furniture, emailed to say that the shelter, along with another nearby shelter at a stop on Birchmount that is no longer in service, will be taken away within two weeks. But the bench will be left in place, he said. “The TTC had posted notices previously indicating the change in stop, and will post them again before the shelters are removed,” he said, adding that a shelter will be installed at the new stop no later than early December.

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