West Hollywood's 'smart' bus shelter, stop loaded with tech amenities

With the goal of enhancing urban design and promoting the use of public transit options, such as Los Angeles' Metro and the local shuttle service, the city of West Hollywood, California, has installed two prototype "smart" bus shelters/stops.

The Smart Bus Shelter prototype features a large shade canopy, integrated seating with enhanced armrests, and vibrant digital and print advertising and public service announcement panels. The shelter incorporates an ADA Wheelchair Zone and its ambient ceiling lighting was designed to look as if standing underneath a leafy tree canopy.

The Smart Bus Stop prototype accommodates existing trees and space constraints in the public right-of-way where a bus shelter cannot fit. The prototype features a freestanding feature-rich bus stop kiosk and adjacent ergonomic wood bench seating with armrests.

Both prototypes, located on Santa Monica Boulevard, equipped with innovative interactive features, such as:

• Visual real-time bus arrival information on a digital text screen

• Audio real-time bus arrival information operated by push button aimed at assisting people with vision impairment

• Bus stop street name with six-inch letter height

• USB charging ports

• Wi-Fi

• Energy-efficient LED edge lighting

The City of West Hollywood’s Smart bus shelters/stops project integrates existing infrastructure and adds technology that people rely on while getting around; the project reimagines the digital urban experience. This project is a public private partnership between the city of West Hollywood and Outfront Decaux Street Furniture LLC.

Following a period of testing and refinement of the two prototypes, a citywide rollout of the new bus shelters/stops is anticipated throughout 2019 and early 2020.