Denver Man Builds Benches for Bus Stops That Don’t Have Seating

60 Second Docs spoke with James Warren, a man in Denver, Colorado who began describing himself as a “guerrilla bench builder” after noticing that the bus stops around his neighborhood didn’t provide seating and then providing a solution.

After noticing an accessibility issue at his local bus stops, he began repurposing scrap wood into benches. He’s built 21 and counting, each of which are placed around his neighborhood with the inscribed message “Be Kind”.

A proponent of public transportation, Warren stated that the lack of benches discouraged people from taking the bus, so he took matters into his own hands. Literally. And with recycled wood.

I harvest all of my materials from things that are being thrown away. How are we going to encourage people to get riding the bus if it means sitting in the dirt while you wait? People deserve dignity no matter what type of transportation they use. we don’t necessarily have to wait for the city to come and fulfill its obligations everybody can be a little bit Kinder sometimes all we need is a reminder .

Guerrilla Bench Builder

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.