Martín Covarrubias is the creator of Ideas en tu paradero (Ideas at Your Bus Stop), a project that began in 2010 in collaboration with Transantiago. Six years earlier, he had already made interventions on the street, with mosaic works on Avenida Santa María near TVN and at the exit of the Universidad Católica metro station. "While studying architecture, I was involved in an accident that left my arm immobilized for a while, and doing something on the street was my reaction," says Covarrubias, now a publicist leading the social innovation office Ciudad Color. Later, he was invited by the Quiero mi Barrio program of the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism to lead an intervention in La Granja, where he personally experienced the possibilities of co-creation with the community. He then approached Transantiago to propose a concrete action in response to the continuous destruction of bus stops.

In 2011, Ministry of Transport figures indicated that over 90% of these spaces had some degree of damage due to "vandalism": graffiti, pasting of posters, theft of seats and trash bins, and even destruction of roofs. Covarrubias comments, "The bus stops lasted barely two days after repairs, so we thought of another way to address the situation." The first step was a pilot project, the starting point for the project that has already intervened in 39 bus stops in Peñalolén, La Florida, Huechuraba, Santiago, Puente Alto, Lo Barnechea, La Reina, Maipú, and La Pintana. Currently, work is underway on another three, which will be completed by the end of this month in the Pedro Aguirre Cerda commune.

The modus operandi is entirely participatory with the community living around the bus stops. The technique and design are chosen with those who volunteer, they are trained in workshops, and then the ideas are implemented. Covarrubias is pleased to see the activation of neighbors, empowered with their territory. This "manifests local identity" because, according to him, the paintings and mosaics evoke symbols related to what matters to the inhabitants. Like one that paid tribute to the cartoonist Themo Lobos and his comic strip Mampato in San Miguel or the one that painted the classic drinking fountains in El Bosque.

This same vision of the possibilities of shelters is shared by Ecoo Paradero, a group of three university students united by their interest in urban space.

Simón Villalobos, a fourth-year Urban Planning student, along with Roque Saenz, a graduate in Agronomy, and Ermes Uribe, an Industrial Engineering graduate, participated in the "Modela tu idea" program at the UC School of Social Innovation. "The basic idea was to include green areas at the bus stops and make it participatory, hence the name with the repeated letter O, which alludes to cooperation," explains Villalobos.

Their first experience was to change the appearance of the bus stop in front of the Catholic University campus in San Joaquín, where they installed grass on the roof and hung a swing and a hammock, provoking reactions from passersby. There was also a water dispenser and a violin to attract attention.

Next, they participated in one of the 100 urban interventions of the 100 in 1 day Santiago carnival, with an action at the bus stop at the entrance of the GAM. On Sunday, October 26, they turned this stop into a picnic area, complete with dream catchers and plants, as well as a mural for writing reflections on transportation and the city. Villalobos emphasized satisfaction, saying, "The bus stop turned into a real plaza, demonstrating that ordinary people can take over public space, in this case, urban infrastructure."

The experience, which they also took to Valparaíso, seeks to expand to other communes and establish itself temporarily for several days, for example, being a daily labor mural of data, much closer to pedestrians than a large advertising sign.

Ideas en tu paradero and Ecoo Paradero: lasting or temporary initiatives, but above all, they connect us.