Boyle Heights will be among the first Los Angeles neighborhoods to receive upgraded bus shelters as part of a program to improve transit infrastructure across the city.
The Department of Public Works will install a total of 3,000 shelters over the course of at least two years, as part of the StreetsLA’s Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program (STAP). Each shelter will come with real-time bus arrival displays, seating, trash cans and extended canopies for shade. Many of the structures will include advertising displays that will also show city and community messaging.
Some of the proposed shelters in Boyle Heights are along Soto Street, Cesar Chavez Avenue and Whittier Boulevard. The eastbound bus stop on Whittier and Soto, which is recognized as one of the hottest bus stops in Los Angeles by the nonprofit Climate Resolve, will be upgraded in year two of the project.
The program rollout prioritizes neighborhood equity and need, and will take into account transit ridership, heat index and key destinations. Twelve of the shelters have already been completed, including in Echo Park. Among the nearly 12,000 Metro stops in Los Angeles, only 26% have shade, according to a 2023 study from UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.
Waiting for the 18 bus on Whittier and Soto, Itzpapalopahtli Flores and her friend, Yizel Rosales, tried to find some shade underneath the Pioneer Chicken sign. The 16-year-olds said they take metro every day and the lack of constant shade makes waiting for the bus grueling.
“Having to wait around in the heat with no shade is the worst part,” Rosales said. Flores agreed and said she’d like to see more shade, trash cans and sheltered seats at bus stops across her neighborhood. The teenagers also said that real-time bus predictions should be displayed at all stops to better inform elderly riders.
“We have our phones but a lot of the older people come up to us asking when the bus is coming,” Rosales said.
The updates to bus shelters across Los Angeles come after a controversy erupted last year over bus shade infrastructures, dubbed La Sombrita. People online were quick to mock the shade’s prototype design, deployed by LADOT to quickly and cheaply provide light and some shade for riders, according to the L.A. Times.
As part of the program, sidewalk areas in need of repair surrounding new STAP shelters will be refurbished or reconstructed to ensure accessibility for riders and nearby pedestrians alike. Shelters will also feature push-to-talk buttons with multilingual capabilities and emergency call features to keep transit riders safe at stops.
Council District 14 staff requested additional STAP shelters to further serve Boyle Heights’ need for more shelters along Cesar Chavez Avenue, according to a list of installations planned for the second year of the project. Pete Brown, a spokesperson for Councilman Kevin de León’s office, said transit infrastructure should be able to adequately serve communities that rely on public transportation.
“People across town are spending hours on public transportation and are constantly waiting for these buses to come through. They deserve to have shelters that can allow them to rest and be covered and protected from the sun,” Brown said. “It’s a matter of providing equity to those who use and need it most.”
According to STAP’s website, additional amenities such as Wi-Fi and phone charging stations will be considered in future shelters.
Visit STAP’s online installation dashboard to track progress with shelter installations across your neighborhood.
