Posted by: Daniel Speciale, volunteer at Reconnect Rochester
If you’ve been hunting for a place to sit down while waiting for your bus to arrive, rejoice. The CUBES are back! This year our volunteers have already placed 14 of those colorful little bus stop cube seats and the program is expanding with 5 additional cubes being placed on Joseph Avenue…
Thanks to our friends at the Joseph Avenue Business Association, bus stops at Wilkins Street, Upper Falls Blvd., Vienna Street, and Baden Street now have cube seats. And thanks to the 19th Ward Community Association, you’ll also find cubes at Main Street and Chili Ave across from St. Mary’s Hospital.
Get a cube at your bus stop
Moving forward, we’d like to continue this project as there are still many, many bus stops where riders have no choice but to stand. Here’s how you can help us expand this project and get a cube placed at a bus stop near you:
1. Make sure the bus stop:
a) Is on hardscape (meaning concrete/brick etc, not grass or dirt)
b) Has 9′ from curb to adjacent property (see our handy handout [PDF])
2. Speak with the owner of the adjacent property and/or your neighborhood association to make sure everyone is on board. Have them sign this pre-written letter of support [PDF].
3. Contact us. With the signed letter we’ll be able to obtain a permit and have the cube(s) placed within a few weeks.
Additional thanks…
Many thanks also to Rochester School for the Deaf 
, Charles House Neighbors in Action , and 19th Ward Neighborhood Association , and of course Flower City Habitat for Humanity , Pittsford Mendon High School Habitat Club , and TRU Yoga (in the South Wedge) for their collaboration and support with this effort.
We’d also like to extend a huge thank-you to Fruit Belt artist, David “DJ” Johnson who designed and painted these two cubes (above) for the JOSANA neighborhood.
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The cubes at Bulls Head are awesome! They are both functional and attractive. Speaking for the Genesee Corridor Business Association, we intend to request some cubes for Genesee Street, and will gladly fund them.
Hi John! That would be great! We would LOVE to place more of these in the southwest neighborhoods. We’ve found the process (from funding, to neighborhood approval, to City approval, to final placement) can be a long one. Let’s connect soon to talk about the needs along Genesee.
I get off the bus at the Chili stop where the orange cube is frequently and was very happy to see it here because there is always someone waiting to go work at Walmart when I get off at that stop! I saw a sticker but didn’t remember the name of the group that made them. (Someone peeled the sticker off) Thanks to a link on Facebook I am able to say THANK YOU from myself and the many people I have seen sitting on these colorful boxes around town. I pass through the Joseph area whenever I get a ride to work and I pointed out to my daughter the boxes and we were thrilled to see the new green bench on the slab of concrete with someone seated on it! Even though many won’t say thank you they are well appreciated and being used! This was a great Idea and I hope it spreads!
Hi Stacey! You have no idea how much it means to us to read your nice words. Of course, even if we never receive a verbal “thank you”, just to see people use the cubes and know they are helping someone take a rest for 5 minutes makes the effort 100% worth it. But it sure is great to get a comment like yours once in a while 🙂
That’s what keeps us going!