The Metro Rapid bus stop at Nebraska and MLK has all of the seating removed, along with almost all of the stops on the route. Credit: Justin Garcia

Along Nebraska Avenue’s Metro Rapid bus route in Tampa, riders are forced to stand at several stops where seating has been ripped out.

At some stops—like the one in front of the Nebraska Avenue Publix in Seminole Heights—poles that supported the seats still jut out from the bus shelters, and some people waiting on their rides do an uncomfortable balancing act on the hard metal. Some sit on the sidewalk with their backs against poles. Others lean awkwardly against the shelter.

A ride down Metro Rapid’s route—which runs on Nebraska from Downtown to Fletcher and the University Area Transit Center—reveals that most of the stops have had their seats removed, save for a couple random stops that have one or two seats remaining.

The Metro Rapid route was launched in 2013, with seating for eight to twelve people originally included in the construction of the shelters. The route is marketed as a quick and easy way for people to transit between the University Area and Downtown Tampa, with an advertised 15-minute wait on weekdays and 30 minutes on the weekend. But with the seats now removed, those with trouble standing for extended periods of time find themselves in a tough spot.

Transportation advocates from the group Sunshine Citizens say that leaders at Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) should take responsibility for the missing seats.

Some members of the groups say that certain benches have been missing on the Nebraska route for months. The group says the seats need to be reinstalled, for the health and respect of bus riders.

“Sunshine Citizens is highly concerned about the significant removal of bus seating along Nebraska Avenue,” the group wrote in a statement to CL. “Removal of bus seating impacts not only HART’s level of transit service but further penalizes bus riders who at times have to wait unnecessarily long.”

The group said that it hopes leaders at HART will question the actions of the agency and seek reinstallation of bus stop amenities, and that the lack of seating, “creates a space of inequity, placing hardships on older riders or those with mobility issues.”

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reached out to HART officials with questions about what happened to the bus seats and how many stops in Tampa had seating removed. HART confirmed they had received the emailed questions, but after three days, CL received no response. We’ll update this post if a response comes in.

Tampa’s removal of bus benches mirrors what’s happening in big cities like New York, where benches and seats have been steadily removed for years. This removal of seating against many taxpayers wishes has been dubbed the “war on sitting” in such cities. But at least in New York, the city installed leaning stations instead with USB charging stations and digital screens.

Tampa’s Metro Rapid Routes are simply gutted now, looking disheveled and unwelcoming.

In the U.S., 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% of the population. This number rises to 1% when including people with limited physical abilities, such as difficulty standing. According Mobility Lab, a research and communications center, without benches, these 16% of adults face huge—if not insurmountable—hurdles to using public transportation.

By Mobility Lab’s estimate, that’s around 39.5 million people whose only transportation choice is driving due to lack of accommodations, putting potentially millions of more vehicles on the road across the country and thousands more on the road in Tampa.

Ignoring the need for sitting in public spaces and transit is not only a pain for riders, it’s an example of hostile architecture—subtle design decisions made to deter certain behavior and people (especially houseless people) from existing in public spaces.

Myra Pierce, president of the Ybor Heights Neighborhood Association says the stops without seats are a disappointment to the neighborhood and the city.

“This is truly a disservice to our residents,” Pierce, who has lived near Nebraska Ave. her entire life, told CL. “It doesn’t resolve anything and creates a barrier for individuals who are part of our neighborhood.”

Pierce, who is getting her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling, points out that instead of hostile architecture, investments should be made in ways to help those who find themselves interacting with the city’s public spaces. She’s also worried about the health of pregnant women, who are forced to stand at the stops.

Tampa’s war on sitting is nothing new. Lykes Gaslight Park, where houseless people used to congregate and eat meals served by Food Not Bombs Tampa (FNB), had benches removed in 2019, to the dismay of houseless people and activists alike. The city said that the benches were going to be replaced, after they were removed just before the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa. They never were.

Now, FNB feeds people near the park in areas that are littered with “no loitering” signs.

And earlier this year, CL Tampa Bay obtained bodycam footage of Tampa Police Department removing houseless people from a HART shelter in downtown, who were seeking cover from a storm after receiving dinners from Food Not Bombs.

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