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Kennedy: The secret push behind those bus stop benches

Contributed photo / Bench-building advocates Debbie Martin, Corey Evatt and Linda Hershey pose with one of the roadside seats destined to be placed at a CARTA bus stop. Evatt and the women of the Valamont Club have been instrumental in building scores of benches for bus riders.
Contributed photo / Bench-building advocates Debbie Martin, Corey Evatt and Linda Hershey pose with one of the roadside seats destined to be placed at a CARTA bus stop. Evatt and the women of the Valamont Club have been instrumental in building scores of benches for bus riders. Contributed photo / Bench-building advocates Debbie Martin, Corey Evatt and Linda Hershey pose with one of the roadside seats destined to be placed at a CARTA bus stop. Evatt and the women of the Valamont Club have been instrumental in building scores of benches for bus riders.

By Mark Kennedy 4 min read


Have you wondered about those bus-stop benches popping up around town?

From Highway 153 in the north to the Georgia state line in the south, the colorful benches are showing up at CARTA bus stops as if they dropped from the sky.

Someone counted 127.

And it’s not the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, which runs the municipal bus line, putting them there.