Team ‘Umbrella Project’ was funded $5,000 during the 24 Hour Citizen Project in 2016 to build a bus stop shelter prototype  – with the potential of being replicated throughout the city. Lafayette has over 500 bus stops, and just 35 of those have shelter. Project creators, Brittany Broussard and Kate Durio, will tell you that this project – more than anything – is about restoring dignity to bus riders. A worthy cause indeed.

Our bus stops have two options. There is a sign on a pole or a complete shelter but no option in the middle, with the majority of riders left standing out in the rain and sun with no protection, no place to sit and no map and routing information. We can do better. The Umbrella Project aims to provide a modular system to provide shelter, map and routing information, seating and lighting at every bus stop. The current bus shelters are great where they work and where we can afford them.  Each costs about $10,000-$15,000 to install and navigating right of way can be an additional challenge. By identifying this option in the middle and developing it in a way that is agile and can work in a variety of contexts, budgets and right of way, we can provide amenities at any stop.

This project would seek to:

• Provide shelter, seating, map routing information, trash cans and lighting wherever possible.
• Continue to work comprehensively with LTS and all community members trying to improve the bus stops in Lafayette as a team so that we are addressing the rider experience holistically
• Maintain a certain level of aesthetic standard so that all stops are replicable, affordable, sustainable, low-maintenance and recognizable as a bus stop to improve the rider experience first and second to incorporate works of art. This approach ensures that every bus stop is immediately identified as a bus stop thus improving the functionality of the rider experience.