Street Furniture & Public Right-of-Way Investigation · Oct. 28, 2026

Who Owns Burbank’s Bus Stops? Inside Outfront Media’s 76-Shelter Street Furniture Network

City of Burbank GIS records reveal that while taxpayers own the majority of bus shelters on quiet commuter streets, publicly traded outdoor advertising REIT OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) controls the 76 highest-traffic shelters that capture 49.9% of all transit boardings citywide — while also maintaining 10 zero-ridership “ghost” shelters that function as curbside billboards.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026 from Burbank GIS Portal_CounterMap/4 , Burbank Business License GIS Layer , JCDecaux / CBS Outdoor 2013 JV Filing and LA Metro Contract PS41099B . Recomputed from official source records; see methodology.

Outfront Media Shelters

76 / 285

26.7% of Burbank bus stops

Rider Share at Outfront Stops

49.9%

38,518 of 77,183 boardings

Avg Boardings per Shelter

507

2.6× higher than City-owned shelters (194)

Zero-Rider ‘Ghost’ Shelters

13.2% of Outfront shelters have 0 boardings

1. The 49.9% Foot-Traffic Monopoly

Buried inside the City of Burbank’s Community Development counter map GIS service (Portal_CounterMap/FeatureServer/4) is a field titled owner_of_s (Owner of Shelter), which records the legal owner of every bus shelter across all 285 cataloged transit stops in the city.

At first glance, the City of Burbank appears to run a predominantly public shelter network: municipal Public Works owns 155 shelters (54.4% of stops), while private outdoor advertising vendors Outfront Media and Clear Channel Outdoor own 76 (26.7%) and 52 (18.2%), respectively.

When weighted by actual passenger boardings, however, the picture inverts:

Outfront Media’s 76 shelters capture 38,518 boardings — 49.9% of all transit ridership in Burbank, averaging 506.8 boardings per shelter (median: 224).
The City of Burbank’s 155 shelters capture 30,046 boardings (38.9%), averaging 193.8 boardings per shelter (median: 80).
Clear Channel’s 52 shelters capture 8,619 boardings (11.2%), averaging 165.8 boardings per shelter (median: 118), with zero stops exceeding 1,000 boardings.

Shelter Owner (`owner_of_s`)	Stops	% of Stops	Total Boardings	% of Boardings	Mean / Stop	Median / Stop	Stops ≥ 1,000 Riders	0-Rider Stops
Outfront Media	76	26.7%	38,518	49.9%	506.8	224	9	10
City of Burbank	155	54.4%	30,046	38.9%	193.8	80	7	14
Clear Channel	52	18.2%	8,619	11.2%	165.8	118	0	6
Unlisted / None	2	0.7%	0	0.0%	0.0	0	0	2

2. Corporate Lineage: How a 2003 Viacom License Became an Outfront/JCDecaux Joint Venture

How did a New York-based real estate investment trust come to own the shelters at Burbank’s busiest intersections — despite having zero entries under the name “Outfront Media” in the City of Burbank’s July 2014 Business License GIS layer?

Tracing municipal council actions, SEC filings, and joint-venture disclosures reveals a 23-year chain of corporate succession and regional consolidation:

February 2003 — The Viacom Outdoor License Agreement: The Burbank City Council approved a long-term Bus Shelter License Agreement with Viacom Outdoor, Inc. (formerly TDI / Infinity Outdoor), granting the vendor rights to install and sell backlit poster advertising on designated public transit shelters in exchange for shelter maintenance and municipal revenue-sharing payments.
2005 — Rebrand to CBS Outdoor: When Viacom Inc. split into two publicly traded companies at the end of 2005, Viacom Outdoor was renamed CBS Outdoor Americas Inc., inheriting the Burbank shelter license.
September 2013 — The 14-City JCDecaux / CBS Outdoor Joint Venture: French street-furniture giant JCDecaux SA and CBS Outdoor Americas Inc. announced an agreement to expand their 50/50 Los Angeles street furniture joint venture (CBS Decaux / OUTFRONT JCDecaux Street Furniture LLC) to absorb bus shelter networks across 14 additional Greater Los Angeles municipalities — explicitly naming the City of Burbank, Pasadena, and Long Beach — creating a unified regional inventory of 5,150 two-square-meter (2m²) advertising panels across a population of 5.5 million.
November 20, 2014 — The OUTFRONT Media REIT Spin-Off: Following an IRS private letter ruling allowing outdoor advertising structures to qualify as real estate assets, CBS Outdoor completed its spin-off from CBS Corporation as a publicly traded REIT (NYSE: OUT) and rebranded as OUTFRONT Media Inc. Because the rebrand occurred four months after Burbank’s July 1, 2014 Business License GIS snapshot (Portal_Operational/0), Outfront does not appear under its current name in that layer — whereas rival Clear Channel Communications held eight active business tax certificates at 3400 W. Olive Ave, Suite 550 (BT1318230, BT1319205–BT1319210, and BT1322939).

3. Double Monetization: Outfront Owns Both the Sidewalk Shelter Ads and the LA Metro Bus Ads

Cross-referencing the bus_lines and stop_code attributes in Burbank’s GIS layer reveals why Outfront Media’s Burbank shelters are uniquely lucrative: they pair seamlessly with Outfront’s regional transit vehicle contract.

In 2018, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) awarded Outfront Media Group, LLC a 10-year exclusive contract (Contract No. PS41099B) to sell exterior and interior advertising across the entire LA Metro Bus fleet, backed by an initial minimum revenue guarantee exceeding $262 million (subsequently amended during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended by the Metro Board through February 28, 2030).

89.5% LA Metro Overlap: Out of Outfront Media’s 76 shelters in Burbank, 68 stops (89.5%) serve LA Metro bus lines (48 Metro-only stops and 20 shared Metro/BurbankBus stops across Metro Lines 92, 94, 96, 154, 155, 164, 165, 169, 222, and 294).
Curb-to-Coach Exclusivity: At major transfer nodes like Burbank Metrolink Station Bay 5 (5,009 boardings) or Olive Ave & San Fernando Blvd (3,519 boardings), Outfront Media controls both the static/backlit street-furniture displays on the city sidewalk and the bus wraps pulling up to the curb.

4. Corridor Cherry-Picking: Where Outfront Plants Shelters vs. Where the City Pays

A street-by-street breakdown of all 285 stops demonstrates how private ad-funded shelters cluster along high-income studio, retail, and commuter arteries, leaving lower-density or industrial corridors to municipal upkeep:

Olive Avenue (Studio & Downtown Spine): Outfront Media owns 12 of the 26 shelters on Olive Ave — from Warner Bros. Studios (`MT-7841`) to San Fernando Blvd — capturing 11,525 of the corridor’s 16,216 boardings (71.1%).
Downtown & Metrolink Core (`1st St`, `Burbank Metrolink`, `Burbank Blvd`): Outfront captures 100% of boardings at Burbank Metrolink Station Bay 5 (5,009), 62.6% on Burbank Blvd (2,404 of 3,839), and 53.4% on 1st Street (5,062 of 9,486).
Hollywood Way (Airport & Media Corridor): Outfront operates 13 shelters capturing 56.7% of corridor boardings (2,893 of 5,100), including the Hollywood Burbank Airport approach (`MT-12111-125`, 807 boardings).
Taxpayer Backfill on Victory Blvd & Empire Ave: On long commuter corridors with lower pedestrian ad rates, the City of Burbank provides 21 of 27 shelters on Victory Blvd (77.8%) and 12 of 17 shelters on Empire Ave (70.6%). Meanwhile, Clear Channel concentrates 9 of its 52 shelters along Magnolia Blvd in Magnolia Park.

Street Corridor	Total Stops	Outfront Stops	City Stops	Clear Channel	Total Boardings	Outfront Boardings	Outfront Rider Share
OLIVE AVE	26	12	10	4	16,216	11,525	71.1%
1ST ST	8	4	2	2	9,486	5,062	53.4%
BURBANK METROLINK ST	1	1	0	0	5,009	5,009	100.0%
HOLLYWOOD WAY	30	13	10	7	5,100	2,893	56.7%
SAN FERNANDO BLVD	13	4	7	2	5,726	2,594	45.3%
BURBANK BLVD	22	6	9	7	3,839	2,404	62.6%
GLENOAKS BLVD	26	8	13	5	5,580	2,038	36.5%
ALAMEDA AVE	19	7	7	5	2,969	1,396	47.0%
BUENA VISTA ST	11	3	7	1	2,088	1,374	65.8%
RIVERSIDE DR	6	4	0	2	1,292	983	76.1%
VICTORY BLVD	27	3	21	3	4,567	913	20.0%
OLIVE ST	4	3	1	0	906	766	84.5%
IKEA WAY	4	2	2	0	837	604	72.2%
MAGNOLIA BLVD	22	2	11	9	3,503	484	13.8%
EMPIRE AVE	17	2	12	2	4,076	473	11.6%
VICTORY PL	4	0	4	0	2,611	0	0.0%
THORNTON AVE	2	1	1	0	164	0	0.0%
ANGELENO AVE	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.0%

5. Top 15 Outfront Media Bus Shelters in Burbank

Within Outfront Media’s 76-shelter portfolio, just 5 stops generate 16,991 boardings (44.1% of Outfront’s total) and the top 10 stops generate 24,161 boardings (62.7%):

Rank	Stop Code	On Street	Cross Street	Dir · Placement	Lines Served	Boardings
#1	`MT-30003-206`	BURBANK METROLINK ST	BAY 5	South · Near	MT=164=N,MT=155=N,MT=165=N,MT=154=N,MT=294=N,MT=96=N	5,009
#2	`MT-1574-153`	OLIVE AVE	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	West · Far	MT=155=W,MT=94=N,MT=96=N	3,519
#3	`MT-11812-106`	1ST ST	MAGNOLIA BLVD	East · Far	MT=92=S,MT=94=S,MT=154=E,MT=164=E,MT=165=E,MT=294=S	2,979
#4	`MT-8611-266`	OLIVE AVE	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	East · Near	MT=92=S,MT=155=E,MT=96=S	2,890
#5	`MT-12349-134`	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	BURBANK BLVD	South · Far	MT=165=E,MT=294=S,MT=164=E,MT=154=E	2,594
#6	`MT-9825-267`	BURBANK BLVD	SAN FERNANDO BL	West · Far	MT=154=W,MT=164=W	2,071
#7	`MT-12590-137`	OLIVE AVE	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	East · Far	MT=94=S	1,551
#8	`BU-70,GB-404-60`	OLIVE AVE	—	West · —	BU=Pink=,GB=12 - Glendale Transportation Center to Burbank Regional Intermodal Transportatio=0,GB=12 - Glendale Transportation Center to Burbank Regional Intermodal Transportatio=1	1,358
#9	`MT-4642-237`	1ST ST	OLIVE AVE	North · Near	MT=165=W,MT=164=W,MT=154=W,MT=96=N,MT=294=N	1,251
#10	`MT-1573-152`	OLIVE AVE	GLENOAKS BLVD	West · Mid-block	MT=92=N,MT=155=W,MT=96=N	939
#11	`MT-12111-125`	HOLLYWOOD WAY	BOB HOPE AIRPORT	South · Mid-block	MT=222=S,MT=294=S,MT=169=S	807
#12	`CX-470038,MT-50100000-87`	ALAMEDA AVE	BUENA VISTA ST	West · Far	CX=Commuter Express 549=,MT=501=W	672
#13	`CX-470015,MT-7487,MT-7487-84`	ALAMEDA AVE	BUENA VISTA ST	East · Near	CX=Commuter Express 549=,MT=501=E	619
#14	`MT-3625-224`	HOLLYWOOD WAY	THORNTON AVE	North · Far	MT=169=E,MT=222=N,MT=294=N	563
#15	`BU-65,MT-15840-57`	BUENA VISTA ST	ALAMEDA AVE	North · Far	BU=Green=,BU=Pink=,MT=155=E	559

6. The 10 Zero-Ridership “Ghost” Shelters

Perhaps the most striking anomaly in the City’s GIS counter layer lies at the bottom of the ridership table. Ten of Outfront Media’s 76 bus shelters (13.2%) record zero transit boardings (ridership = 0):

Five Unassigned Curbside Shelters (bus_lines = NULL): Five Outfront shelters carry internal negative/shuttle IDs (-271, -272, -273, -274, and Airport Shuttle-280) with no active Metro, BurbankBus, or Beeline route assigned and zero boardings. They sit at high-visibility automobile intersections in the Media District (Alameda Ave & Olive Ave, Alameda Ave & Main St), Downtown (Angeleno Ave & San Fernando Blvd), Victory Blvd & Verdugo Ave, and the airport perimeter (Thornton Ave & Hollywood Way).
Five Zero-Boarding Route Stops: Two Outfront shelters at Alameda Ave & Pass Ave (logged under LADOT Commuter Express 549 / Metro 222) and three along San Fernando Blvd at Scott Rd, Amherst Dr, and Delaware Rd (`MT-12348-133`, `MT-3865-230`, `MT-3866-231`) also record zero boardings while continuing to display commercial street-furniture advertising to passing motorists.

Stop Code	On Street	Cross Street	Direction · Placement	Assigned Bus Lines
`-271`	ALAMEDA AVE	OLIVE AVE	East · Near	None (No active route listed)
`-272`	ALAMEDA AVE	MAIN ST	West · Far	None (No active route listed)
`-273`	VICTORY BLVD	VERDUGO AVE	North · Near	None (No active route listed)
`-274`	ANGELENO AVE	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	North · Near	None (No active route listed)
`Airport Shuttle-280`	THORNTON AVE	HOLLYWOOD WAY	East · Far	None (No active route listed)
`CX-470012-83`	ALAMEDA AVE	PASS AVE	East · Far	CX=Commuter Express 549=,MT=222=N
`CX-470041-88`	ALAMEDA AVE	PASS AVE	East · Mid-block	CX=Commuter Express 549=
`MT-12348-133`	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	SCOTT RD	East · Mid-block (T-intersection)	MT=294=S,MT=165=E
`MT-3865-230`	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	AMHERST DR	West · Near	MT=294=N,MT=165=W
`MT-3866-231`	SAN FERNANDO BLVD	DELAWARE RD	West · Far	MT=294=N,MT=165=W

7. What Does the Public Get in Return? ($2,788 per Shelter per Year)

Under Southern California street-furniture license agreements — benchmarked in municipal audits by neighboring Pasadena, Long Beach, and El Segundo — outdoor media companies install and clean ad-bearing shelters in exchange for paying the host city the greater of a monthly per-shelter minimum guarantee (typically around $140/month) or roughly 20% of net advertising billings.

According to regional municipal benchmarking disclosed in Pasadena’s transit shelter contract review, the City of Burbank receives an average of approximately $2,788 per advertising shelter annually (second highest per shelter in the San Gabriel / San Fernando Valley peer group behind Pasadena). Across Outfront Media’s 76 shelters, that benchmark equates to roughly $211,888 per year in municipal revenue (or roughly $356,864 per year across all 128 Outfront and Clear Channel shelters combined) — less than 0.05% of Burbank’s $765.18M annual municipal revenue, in exchange for long-term commercial signage rights at the city’s most heavily traveled intersections.