Bus riders will be able to charge their phones and surf the web while waiting at 15 “smart” benches and shelters set to be installed around the city, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today.
Garcetti unveiled the first of these smart benches during an event near the corner of Central Avenue and 43rd Street in South Los Angeles.
The benches are powered with a solar panel and created by Soofa, a development company formed in 2014 by female engineers from Harvard and MIT.
The Soofa Benches, which were previously adopted in Boston in 2014, feature Wi-Fi hotspots, USB device charging ports, energy-efficient LED lighting and displays of real-time bus arrival information.
Billboard and outdoor advertising firm Outfront/JCDecaux will be responsible for the images displayed on the bus shelters.
All the smart benches will be placed along the 15 “Great Streets” that Garcetti identified last year as areas for focusing on pedestrian-friendly street improvements.
“A big part of re-invigorating our Great Streets is making them more user-friendly, so the goal of this project is simple but meaningful — upgrade our bus shelters and benches with charging and Wi-Fi to make waiting for the bus an opportunity, not a chore,” Garcetti said.
