Council approves coordinated street furniture program to add shelters, kiosks and public toilets; directs targeted roll-out and publisher concurrence for newsr​

The Los Angeles City Council on July 24 approved, as amended, a coordinated street furniture program that directs staff to negotiate a 20-year agreement with JCDecaux (identified in the record as Infiniti/Infinity De Co) to provide bus shelters, kiosks, computer information terminals and automated, self-cleaning public toilets. The Public Works Committee report, adopted as amended, instructs staff to return within 60 days with negotiation results; if an agreement with JCDecaux cannot be reached, staff are to negotiate with Adshall Inc. The final motion passed on the council floor as the Public Works report, 12 ayes and 2 noes.

Why it matters: The program bundles multiple street elements — transit shelters, newsstand/kiosk offerings, information terminals and automated public toilets — into a single citywide contract that includes guaranteed minimum revenue sharing to the city and operational commitments by the vendor. Supporters say the consolidated approach lets the city fund and maintain costly public toilets and higher-service features by using advertising revenue from shelters and kiosks; opponents urged a more cautious pilot approach and separate handling of controversial elements such as modular news racks.

What the council approved: Staff presented committee…