Sonoma County Transit is a nation leader in comfort, ergonomics and technology, now providing WiFi on many of their newer busses. Sebastopol’s newest Tolar Manufacturing street furniture is also a trendsetting example of design by Autodesk software. In development phase, each shelter could be realistically simulated into the environment before the first unit went into production.

Welcome, Sebastopol, to Tolar Manufacturing’s newest Project – and Community – Of Distinction!

This shelter is a 12’ Signature Sunset Radius roof shelter with solar powered  LED illumination in the roof and advertising kiosk, two color powder coat finish that reflects the wine country and the branding element for Sonoma County Transit on the back wall.

These shelters represents the distinctive elements that are possible whenever you work with the Tolar team.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), has named Tolar Manufacturing (Tolar) — a manufacturer of transit shelters, street furniture and advertising kiosks — as the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for January 2012. Tolar was recognized for its use of Autodesk software in creating custom products tailored to the needs of municipalities throughout North America.

“Tolar Manufacturing is gaining a powerful advantage across all aspects of its operations with Digital Prototyping”

Tolar offers more than 500 shelter types within the company’s four main product lines, each designed and engineered to be long-lasting, attractive and environmentally friendly. This includes complying with a wide range of building code requirements across North America and community design requirements from economical transit shelters to high volume bus rapid transit facilities. Tolar client expectations for purpose- driven design range from hurricane-resistant bus shelters for Florida communities to solar-powered transit displays for agencies in California.“We recognize the need to design shelters specifically for today’s urban environments, and Autodesk Product Design Suite definitely helps us do that more efficiently,” said Patrick Merrick, executive vice president of Tolar. “We estimate that we’ve been able to improve our overall efficiency by 20 to 25 percent, thanks in large part to Autodesk software.

”Digital Models Streamline Operations

Working with Autodesk Gold Partner KETIV Technologies, Tolar has significantly expanded its Digital Prototyping portfolio in recent years and now relies on Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Inventor Publisher, Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk Vault software.

On a typical project, Tolar begins by creating 3D models of the proposed shelter using Inventor software. To further communicate design intent to customers, Tolar can create a near-photorealistic image of the model in Showcase software, and then superimpose it over an actual streetscape from the customer’s town, enabling customers to see exactly what Tolar’s product will look like when installed in the community.

Next, the Inventor manufacturing models are used to fabricate the multiple components that make up the shelter. These models provide clear, concise and comprehensive communications, resulting in fewer errors on the shop floor.Additionally, Tolar uses Vault software to centrally store and manage its digital data, making it easier for the company to access and reuse drawings of specific parts for multiple projects rather than having to start each time from scratch — significantly reducing project turnaround time.

Tolar also uses Inventor Publisher software to create installation instructions for customers.“Tolar Manufacturing is gaining a powerful advantage across all aspects of its operations with Digital Prototyping,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation at Autodesk. “With Autodesk software, the company is able to take its existing creative design processes and world-class manufacturing standards and make them even stronger.”

About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program

Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the users of Autodesk Inventor software, which takes manufacturers beyond 3D to Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information about Autodesk Inventor of the Month, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.

About Tolar Manufacturing

Founded in 1991, Tolar Manufacturing Company, Inc., designs and fabricates best-in-class bus shelters, street furniture and display structures. The company operates a 55,000 square-foot company-owned modern structure in Corona, Calif., that serves as its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility. For additional information, visit www.tolarmfg.com.

About KETIV Technologies

KETIV Technologies is a leading Autodesk solutions provider with 25 years’ experience delivering CAD software and services in California, Arizona and Nevada. Focused on the manufacturing, civil engineering and process plant industries, KETIV’s team of industry experts increase the profitability of engineering companies by helping them simplify the process of conceptualization, design and production. For additional information, visit www.ketiv.com.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries — including the last 16 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects — use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets.

For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.Editorial Note: An interview with Tolar Manufacturing is available on the Autodesk YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoLchEj7m2Q.Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Inventor and Showcase are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2012 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

The ‘crack’ street furniture installation and maintenance team from Omnitrans (San Bernardino County, CA) installing Tolar Sierra model shelters. Click here for more!

Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority – MARTA – is generating local interest, and press, as the community’s new Inner Aesthetic choice in transportation shelters. Recently unveiled near The Freedom Center at The Carter Center (yes, named after President Carter) Tolar Shelters’ competition-winning design is touted as win-win-win: Artistic design, green engineering AND boosting ridership!

Described as simple and elegant, fashioned out of stainless steel and glass, with a sturdy bench, maps and a spare illuminated frame for advertising, MARTA is thanked for its “sleek in form, practical in function and generally a welcome addition to the landscape.”

Certainly, Tolar is proud to contribute to Atlanta’s public transportation system and eager to bring style and affordability to your transportation system.

Read more about MARTA newest street furniture here.

Tolar Manufacturing was recently awarded its second multi-year contract to fabricate transit shelters and provide solar illumination for the fine folks at Hillsborough Regional Transit in Tampa, FL.

Ranked as the fifth best outdoor city by Forbes in 2008, the service provided by HART is a great way to get to the activities in the Tampa Bay community.

Selected from our Niagara product line, these shelters are designed to support HARTS’s core mission of connecting people.

In addition, Tolar is honored to also provide the shelters for HART’s shelter advertising partner.

There are a tremendous amount of activities for kids and adults alike. You can ride to most of them in air conditioned comfort on Lynx, Central Florida’s fantastic transit provider.

D-Land, Seaworld, Gatorland, Cirque du Soleil, Indy Racing, Indoor Sky Diving… wait! Really? Well, Orlando is in the Sunshine State singing the state song “Way down upon the Suwannee River”, with the state’s famed mockingbirds shaded by the state tree – Palmettos, and flowered by Orange Blossoms that fragrance more beaches, bays, swamps & alligators than can ever be counted.

Yet even more important, Tolaar created for Lynx Central Florida Transportation District a distinctive shelter menu of large and small shelters with optional advertising kiosks, solar illumination, complementary bench and trash receptacle.

We appreciate the confidence that the Lynx team has shown in Tolar Manufacturing with this multi-year award!

Nashville is known as Music USA and it is a large tourist destination. Locals and tourists alike look to Nashville MTA to get them where they need to go. There is a good possibility that while waiting  for one of MTA’s clean and on-time buses they will be spending time at a Tolar designed and fabricated shelter or  bench.

Though the competitive bid process Tolar has been fortunate to have the opportunity to fabricate our Niagara style transit shelters, perforated metal advertising benches and solar illumination.

We were also honored to be awarded a contract to design and fabricate street furniture for the BRT route including custom radius roof shelters custom glass, lean rail, bike loops, solar illuminating  and a distinctive fiberglass branding kiosk.

The Monterey CA is known for many things from its world class aquarium to its internationally recognized Jazz Festival.

The Monterey Salinas Transit Agency can take you to these places and many more thought their service area. Getting to many of these areas will be easier in 2012 when MST kicks off their new JAZZ BRT transit service.

MST unveiled this new transit shelter design to customers and tourists alike  at the 2011 Monterey  Jazz Festival. This Tolar fabricated design was a result of a collaboration between MST’s designer, MST staff and the Tolar Manufacturing team.

The design brings together many distinctive elements including  a fiberglass roof, radius media display kiosk, curved stainless steel support posts, real time information display, passenger information,  unique agency branding including hardscape accents and PV power for the lighting and information display.

Tolar looks forward to rolling out the remainder of the shelters, including branded kiosks in early 2012.

Kudos to the MST team for developing a brand unique to their community, in a distinctive way, to promote transit ridership. We are proud to be a part of it.

Tolar Manufacturing was fortunate to be selected to design and fabricate four unique shelter styles to kick-off the Livermore Amador Transit Authority’s Tri Valley Rapid BRT Service. Working with LAVTA, their design team, the agency selected contractor and other supplier supplied design elements Tolar used our state of the art engineering software to shelter designs for the project from both our Signature Sunset and Sierra lines.

Unique elements of the shelter include Tri-Valley laminated glass, radius roof and many other features used to brand the project. The project also included a custom paint finish.

“It’s a lot less expensive to fix stuff here than on the shop floor,” Patrick said, with a chuckle.

“Tolar has an award-winning design team, but for [the Escondido] assignment we worked with the agency’s architect to bring concepts to manufacturability. More than 200 pages of shop drawings were produced for each variation…

Representations were used to quickly create six design variations for this project. And a Bill of Materials created an accurate parts list to purchase just the right materials. ”

Click the images above or here for the full writeup!

Kanwar Anand, President and CEO of KETIV Technologies, an Autodesk Gold Partner for Manufacturing serving the West coast, selected Tolar Manufacturing as a featured success story for their annual training conference,KETIV AMA 2011.

Tolar Manufacturing designs and manufactures best-in-class bus shelters, street furniture, and display structures for communities throughout the country.