FIRST PERSON - It is Christmas time, and for believers, it is the time of hope for the coming of the light (Advent). Within this is the beautiful Christmas story of Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary travelling to Bethlehem to obey the census of Caesar Augustus who, upon their arrival, find no room at the inn. Jesus is born in a manger amongst animals, born in swaddling clothes, with angels as witnesses.
I was reminded of the Christmas story as the rains returned, and again, for another year, the fourth one I believe, I found myself waiting for a bus on Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards standing under my umbrella instead of standing inside a covered bus shelter.
To remind us of this ongoing story, before Santa Monica Boulevard was reconstructed between Century City and the San Diego Freeway, there were covered bus shelters along the boulevard. I personally petitioned the City of Los Angeles for the ones at Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards.
These shelters were removed for the construction. Fair enough, I was under the (mistaken) impression that they would be returned when the construction was completed. To my surprise, and subsequent wet clothes and feet, they were not.
Research led to various stories and narratives. Throughout Los Angeles, advertising company CBS/Decaux provides covered bus shelters with ads on them. The ads pay for these shelters and their maintenance. CBS/Decaux does an excellent job in maintaining bus shelters throughout Los Angeles, providing these much appreciated shelters for us, the bus riders.
After the reconstruction of Santa Monica Boulevard the story becomes opaque. The City of Los Angeles went into a contract with CBS/Decaux which seems that the bus shelters would only be returned to Santa Monica Boulevard if they were also allowed to erect some type of pylons in selected areas along the boulevard. The pylons could hold ads I believe.
Local neighbors along Santa Monica Boulevard oppose this. It may not be they oppose the bus shelters with ads, this part is murky at times, but they oppose the pylons.
In discussions with them, it seems the neighbors could accept the bus shelters with ads, but not the pylons. After-all, currently there are uncovered bus benches with ads along Santa Monica Boulevard, and there are covered bus shelters with ads at the intersections of streets bisecting the boulevard, so the placing of these covered bus shelters with ads along the boulevard is not a change of existing practices.
But the locals remain adamant in their opposition, and CBS/Decaux, with a contract in hand from the city giving them cover to erect the pylons, has not budged on their part. The City of Los Angeles and City Council District 5 say their hands are tied by the contract and the neighbors holding their feet to the fire.
From the viewpoint of standing in the rain under my umbrella on Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards, it seems that intransigent opposition and lack of will of city powers prevents any movement forward to returning the covered bus shelters with ads along Santa Monica Boulevard.
I thought of this story of missing shelters, intransigency in the parties involved, and the silence from the city while also being reminded of the Christmas story.
A few days ago, in a heavy rain, as I peered down Santa Monica Boulevard through the raindrops falling off my umbrella looking for a bus, I saw a young mother with her toddler son in her arms crossing Sepulveda Boulevard using a battered umbrella for protection. She crossed the street and headed to the bus stop where I was waiting for a bus.
Unlike Mary and her unborn Jesus who at least found shelter in a manger, this young mother found no shelter. On Santa Monica Boulevard in comfortable West Los Angeles she had to stand clutching her young son in her arms and gripping the battered umbrella, trying to protect both of them from the pelting rain.
If the government of this city-downtown and locally, and its businesses and its neighborhood organizations and councils cannot find some way to return these bus shelters, and indeed erect bus shelters throughout the city, particularly for the most vulnerable and needing amongst us, then the light of the Christmas Season is darkened. It is not a city of angels, but a cold, hard and cruel place.
(Matthew Hetz is a bus rider and transportation advocate. He lives on LA’s Westside.) –cw
Tags: transportation, Los Angeles, buses, bus shelters, bus riders, Christmas, Santa Monica Blvd, City Council, Christmas Story, advertising
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 100
Pub: Dec 16, 2011