Last week I had surgery: I donated my bone marrow to a little boy with leukemia, thanks to Be the Match. I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat if it meant giving somebody a second chance at life.
My only difficulty is that I can’t walk or stand for as long as I used to until my bone marrow regenerates, which will take about two more weeks.
As someone whose primary transportation mode is walking, this has been a problem. Luckily for me, Be the Match is reimbursing my Uber rides to and from work because my nearest bus stop is a 15-minute walk away, and there’s no bench for me to sit on while I wait.
But most people who have temporary or chronic difficulty walking or standing don’t have Be the Match paying their transportation bills. They have to rely on public transportation, and they need benches.
However, the Americans with Disability Act does not require transit agencies to provide benches at bus stops. Accordingly, not many do. Transit agencies are understandably more concerned with meeting the provisions that the ADA does require, like installing curb cuts for people using wheelchairs. (In some cities, as many as half of bus stops are not ADA compliant.)
A sad bus stop in Queens, New York City. Photo by Nick Normal on Flickr.
Yet in the United States, 17 million adults are unable or have extreme difficulty walking a quarter of a mile, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s 7 percent of the population. This number rises to 16 percent when including people with limited physical abilities, such as difficulty standing for a long time.
Without benches, 16 percent of adults face huge – if not insurmountable – hurdles to using public transportation. That’s 39.5 million people whose only transportation choice is driving, putting potentially millions of more vehicles on the road.
With benches, this is a different story. A study from the University of Utah (cited by TransitCenter) found that demand for paratransit services declined within a quarter mile of bus stops equipped with benches. This is a huge opportunity for transit agencies, as most spend on average 12 percent of their total budgets on paratransit.
Benches can also increase ridership. The same study found that ridership grew at a faster rate at stops with benches, shelters, and safe sidewalk connections like curb cuts and crosswalks. A study from the University of Minnesota, also cited by TransitCenter, found that these bus stop amenities decrease how long riders perceive their wait time, as well as make people feel safer. Potential riders reported being deterred from using the bus because of the lack of benches while waiting.
Not only are benches cheap to provide (TransitCenter estimates that installing bus stops with benches and shelters costs between $2,000 and $15,000), but some transit agencies are installing them for free. Portland’s Tri-Met partners with an advertising contractor to install benches and sell ads on them, and they share some profits with the transit agency.
Yet despite these benefits, our country is turning away from benches. Cinncinati is removing bus stop benches by the dozen, prompting local advocates to install their own. We can’t forget New York City’s infamous new “benches,” slanted slabs of steel or wood for commuters to lean on, not sit.
Ignoring the need for sitting is a classic example of “hostile architecture,” subtle design decisions made to deter specific behaviors (and people) from existing in public spaces. These decisions are most obvious on the few benches that do exist: ridges to prevent people experiencing homelessness from sleeping there.
I personally believe that benches in public spaces – not just bus stops – should be a right. Benches enable people to use public transportation over driving. Benches mean that people have the right to choose a sustainable mode of transportation that won’t bankrupt them, and might improve their health.
I hate that it took having surgery for me to truly understand how inaccessible most public transportation systems are. But now that I know, I’m furious. We all should be.