City of Boston Street Furniture Program

The City of Boston is requesting proposals to manage, maintain, expand, and modernize its Coordinated Street Furniture Program, an advertising-supported infrastructure covering bus shelters, public toilets, information panels, digital displays, benches, and trash receptacles across Boston's streetscapes, with proposals due November 4, 2026, and a pre-proposal Q&A conference call scheduled for September 23, 2026. The City encourages participation from small, local, minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses (SMWVBE).

The existing inventory includes 281 bus shelters, 106 city information panels, 47 digital urban panels, 42 telephone pillars, 6 automated public toilets, and approximately 480 trash and recycling receptacles. The scope requires the contractor to refurbish existing shelters and convert approximately 100 shelters to digital advertising, expand bus shelter coverage to approximately 50% of Boston's 2,000+ bus stops by adding 500 new shelters over the contract term, and manage all maintenance, permitting, compliance with ADA and PROWAG standards, utility coordination, and financial and operational reporting. The baseline program elements specify inventory targets including 200 refurbished shelters, 100 new standard shelters (both ad and non-ad), 200 new digital-display shelters, and 100 micro-shelters. The contractor bears all capital and operating costs repaid through CSFP advertising revenue under a revenue-sharing arrangement. Optional elements include ePaper screens, shade structures, bike parking shelters, replacement public toilets, and green roofs.

The contract term is ten years, with seamless transition required following the current contract's expiration on May 1, 2027. Liquidated damages of $200 to $500 per incident apply for maintenance non-compliance. Massachusetts prevailing wage requirements apply; wage schedules became effective August 28, 2026. The contractor must comply with advertising content policies prohibiting political, religious, tobacco, cannabis, and other specified content categories, with 24-hour removal required for non-compliant material. Bidders must submit separate technical and price proposals with sealed pricing evaluated only after technical review. The City retains ownership of all inventory at contract end. Primary contact: Sheila McCarthy, sheila.mccarthy@boston.gov.