#HTE

An Ode to Public Transportation Seat Covers: How Are They Ugly and Beautiful at the Same Time?

CityLab recently put out a call for people’s favorite public transportation seat covers, and the results couldn’t be more, um, colorful? We all know the feeling of turning the corner entering one of those large tour busses, speculating which pattern will damage your eyesight for the duration of your trip. Or the feeling of visiting a new city wondering if the public transit system will feature plastic or fabric seats. If glistening plastic seats pull up, you breathe a sigh of relief. If worn out fabric ones do, you sigh, knowing you’d rather stand than risk it. We all love to hate public transportation seating covers, and for good reason too. 

Yeah, they’re all absolutely hideous, but at the same time, how can you really hate these musty, grimy, gum-stained beauties? Sure light-up disco floors and repurposed Blockbuster signs also bring about a strange sense of nostalgia, but where else can you experience this wave of emotion on a daily basis other than public transportation seating overs? Maybe they’re only beautiful in ironic terms, but that’s still beauty in our eyes.

See some of the submissions below and make sure to include your own in the original thread or our comments section. We’d love to hate what your city has to offer: