How to LA

EP #14: Bus Riders Seeking Shade + A Walk In Ascot Hills

Bonita Johnson

It's hot out here. And when you don't have a car, and when you're utilizing public transport-that's a big deal.

Brian De Los Santos  

You already know that early fall is both Pumpkin Spice Latte season and beach weather. But it can be oppressive, just being outside with that sun beating down on you. Now, think about waiting several minutes, maybe hours for the bus with no shade, no tree, and maybe not even a bench. This is How to LA, the podcast that drops a little knowledge about this city each episode. You know, you may not be a bus rider, but I know that you sit in traffic and probably complain about it. Not having great public transportation amenities is a slice of LA's larger mobility problems. There are roughly 8000 bus stops in the city, and more than three quarters of them don't have any kind of sun cover. It's a problem that's been talked about for a few years now. And recently, the LA City Council said it's finally going to do something about it.

Ryan Fonseca

It's called STAP, which is short for Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program.

Brian De Los Santos  

That's Ryan Fonseca, he covers mobility and transportation for LAist.

Ryan Fonseca

That would add at least 3000 new bus shelters across the city. Benches-street furniture, as they call it- shade structures, those kinds of things.

Brian De Los Santos  

The City Council approved the plans last week twelve to one.

Jessica Meaney  

Just last night, I was in Echo Park. I was trying to catch the 92 bus home. I look on my app and it's grayed out, which means it's a canceled run. My name is Jessica Meaney, I'm the Executive Director of Investing in Place. We're a nonprofit really asking questions about where our tax dollars go for our streets, our sidewalks, our buses, our trains.

Brian De Los Santos  

We met up with Jessica bus stop, of course. She's been pushing for these shelters and for a better transit experience overall.

Jessica Meaney  

Can you imagine if you're waiting an hour and a half at 9:30 at night, and you have no idea when your bus is coming? Imagine if you have kids with you, or your elderly, or you got a health condition!

Brian De Los Santos  

Part of the issue Jessica told us is a bus driver shortage leading to delays and longer stretches between pickups.

Jessica Meaney  

I think that the stress that people who rely on the bus-of the uncertainty-is so high. For like, Am I gonna miss my doctor's appointment, am I gonna be late for my shift.

Brian De Los Santos  

During a heatwave, and you're talking about a miserable wait. But, we'll let the riders tell you about it.

Bonita Johnson

It's hot out here. And when you don't have a car, and when you're utilizing public transport. That's a big deal.

Brian De Los Santos  

That's Bonita Johnson. She was waiting for the 18th line on Sixth and Burlington near MacArthur Park.

Bonita Johnson

Especially me being an older girl of my age, and then the ladies that are older to me, the senior citizens, they can't do that. She can't sprint to that bus from shade.

Brian De Los Santos  

At this particular stop. There was only shade next buildings and trees. People were waiting underneath nearby buildings, and then running to the bus when it came. It's not an easy task for everyone. Our producer Kyle Chang caught up with Bonita and others while they waited to catch the bus.

Mark (Waiting at the bus stop)

Well, I've been here for about 45 minutes now. It said four minutes half hour ago.

Moni (Waiting at the bus stop)

When you're in the shade it's a whole different temperature.

Kyle Chang

I see you like standing here because of the shade, right?

Moni (Waiting at the bus stop)

Yeah, yeah. So if I go stand over there, like my whole experience standing here waiting for my bus is different.

Emily (Waiting at the bus stop)

The first stop that I go to, to go to school. It's just a pole. (Laughs.) It's a pole. That's the stop.

Brian De Los Santos  

That was Mark, Moni and Emily by the way, they all told Kyle they welcome the city's plan to add more shelters at bus stops. Here's the thing though. We've been down this road before. Here's Ryan again.

Ryan Fonseca 

For the past 20 years, a contract with an advertising company-does a lot of outdoor advertising-was supposed to add more than 1000 bus shelters over two decades, ended up that this company at the end of that 20 years, they only were able to install about 660 bus shelters. So kind of falling short of those goals for sure. I think one issue that came up last time around was just all the specific hurdles that had to be jumped through to get a shelter in place. I guess it was a really multi step process. This time around, officials are basically saying it'll be much easier to get the shelters actually installed sort of less bureaucracy, less red tape.

Brian De Los Santos  

I think at the center of this program in center of the story is people, right? It's people who are living in low income communities, do you know what neighborhoods that are gonna get these new shelters?

Ryan Fonseca

Yeah, they've mentioned that, that really, they need to invest in like an equity mindset, and sort of an equity approach to this; to make sure they go to the neighborhoods that need it the most first. Some city leaders have definitely said they're not needed on the West side as much as they're needed in South LA, and as much as they're needed in the Valley, especially where it gets you know, really hot. So, they know where they should go first. It's sort of just a matter of wait and see if that's where they'll end up going.

Brian De Los Santos  

The contract for this bus shelter project starts next year. So, I guess Ryan is right. We just gotta wait and see what happens. There's more about the city's bus shelter program on our website at LAist.com/HowToLA, and you can subscribe to our newsletter there too. Now, before we let you go, let's take a walk through Ascot Hills. We've been asking listeners to tell us about their favorite outdoor places and this spot made the cut.

Maria Patiño Gutierrez

My toddler really likes when we see squirrels. Hi, my name is Maria Patiño Gutierrez. And I am here at Ascot Hills, after work, walking with my kids, my husband, my sister in law-currently carrying my baby. The sun is like almost going down. Not quite. I've just been noticing a lot of families, a lot of elders, a lot of maybe people that live around the area that just walk up here. This is really nice to see. Like, Señoras y Señores walking up here, people with their dogs. (Sound of dogs barking.)

My toddler just stopped to pet a dog. He's just playing with other kids. He's making friends. This is why I like coming to Ascot because, you know, just enjoying nature in the middle of Los Angeles. I think especially as Latinos, it's really nice to be able to spend some time outdoors in nature, smelling the fresh air. Really nice.

The first time we came to Ascot Hills, it was about 12 years ago, Christmas Day, I believe-2010. Just having like a chill Christmas Day. Since we celebrate usually Christmas Eve, Christmas Day kind of bored. I was still dating my husband, who was not my husband. And he said if I want to go on a date. So actually, we ended up here at Ascot, and I had never actually been here. We ended up walking up the hill. And we actually have a picture of our first date and you can see the LA skyline in the back.

Mande. Mande? (Interruption. Responding to someone. Baby sounds reply back). I have a lot of favorite memories coming to Ascot. But one of my favorite memories is when I came with my mom, we came to walk one day. It was nice memory also because in Mexico we actually do go hiking like we go to the cerros. So I told my mom let's go to a cerro, let's go walk at Ascot. And she knows that I would come here often, and so we came as a family one day and it was a really nice, nice moment. And since then my mom has passed, she passed due to Covid. So now, when I come-and I wish I would have been able to bring her more often to come walk or just to come and join nature. But, I think it's a it's a nice memory now that I have of her.

(Unintelligible words from a toddler are heard.) Do you like coming here? Te gusta venir? (More unintelligible words from a toddler are heard.) Do you want to say something? Say hi. Say hi?

Maria Patiño Gutierrez’s Toddler

Hi!

Brian De Los Santos  

If you want to go Ascot Hills Park is near El Sereno, nestled between the 5 and the 10 freeways. Okay, that's it for us today. This is How To LA, I'm Brian De Los Santos. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. We will talk to you mañana.