Today, city leaders and community members gathered at a newly installed bus shelter in Tarzana, California, to celebrate the launch of the City of Los Angeles’ new bus shelter program, known as STAP (Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program). Led by StreetsLA, the STAP initiative will install or upgrade 3,000 bus shelters and 450 shade structures at transit stops throughout Los Angeles over the next decade. The program will be rolled out in the communities that have the greatest need based on ridership data and the city’s equity and heat indexes.
Despite having the third largest transportation network in the country by ridership, much of LA’s public transportation system lacks adequate bus shelters for the hundreds of thousands of Angelenos who rely on public transportation. As climate change intensifies, increased public shade and shelter is crucial to the health and equity of our cities.
Leading the contract for STAP is Tranzito-Vector, a joint venture between smart mobility operator Tranzito and transit advertising company Vector Media. The City of Los Angeles and Tranzito-Vector assembled a team of design experts to develop and execute the program including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Designworks BMW, Studio One Eleven, Fehr & Peers, HLB Lighting, and Tolar Manufacturing.
Inspired by California Modernism, SOM designed the architecture of the shelters as a kit of parts that can be configured to suit its location and customized to reflect the surrounding neighborhoods. The design is elegant, simple, and functional, with an aim to bring visual cohesion to a large transportation network.
The shelters integrate a suite of new amenities to enhance the ridership experience, including real-time bus tracking, public alert systems, a digital art program, and smart lighting technology. The new shelters are designed to accommodate new technologies as they are developed and deployed. Shelter installation began in early 2024, and up to 250 total are anticipated to be installed by June 2025.