After being thoroughly mocked on the internet, Kounkuey, the design firm that came up with La Sombrita defended itself by explaining that “Typical bus shelters often cost $50k or more and require coordination among 8 departments. La Sombrita (in its most expensive, prototype form) costs approximately 15% of the price of a typical bus shelter and can be installed in 30 minutes or less”. This half-baked justification actually is a valuable insight into LA’s failure to provide transportation infrastructure. Specifically: