The Kansas City transit agency has installed narrow “leaning benches” at busy bus stops downtown and touted them as an accessible amenity. But riders and experts disagree and say they’re made to make people uncomfortable.
Bus riders at the busy 12th and Grand stop in downtown Kansas City have a small shelter to protect them from the elements. But there’s no place to sit while they wait for the bus.
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority removed the benches that were there in 2023 after a request from developers and the Kansas City Police Department.
Instead of a place to sit, riders now have a place to lean.
The KCATA recently installed “leaning benches” at three bus stops in Kansas City — 12th Street and Grand Boulevard, 11th and Grand, and the East Village Transit Center. The curved metal structures have an angled surface that allows a person to lean against them without sitting…
‘They aren’t usable for many people’
Stephanie DiPetrillo is a senior research project manager for the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She researches how to make transportation more accessible.
DiPetrillo said she’s seen this type of infrastructure around the country, and it often faces pushback because the leaning benches are designed so that people are uncomfortable.
“Leaning benches may technically meet ADA requirements, but they aren’t usable for many people — including disabled people, older adults, pregnant people, children, and those recovering from injury,” DiPetrillo said. “In trying to prevent unhoused people from sleeping or lingering, we’ve created a new barrier for those who may need a place to rest the most.”
DiPetrillo said the leaning benches, which were placed at some of the busiest bus stops, could make ridership stagnate and decline. People whose needs aren’t being met may not be incentivized to ride the buses and endure KCATA’s long wait times unless necessary, she said.
“It seems to me that the goal here is to say we’ve provided seating, but also satisfy whatever powers that be that are like, ‘Make it so that people can’t lie down, can’t linger,’” DiPetrillo said. “The people who are riding the bus are probably not the people who are being served by making these decisions.”
KCUR, NPR in Kansas City, July 31, 2025