News

Philadelphia Art Commission expected to approve wi-fi kiosks

November 1, 2017

The Philadelphia Art Commission has "conceptually approved" multi-screen sidewalk kiosks that have been endorsed by the mayor and the city's office of transportation and infrastructure systems, according to the Enquirer.

Intersection, the company that was awarded a 20-year contract with the city to design and manage bus shelters and "street furniture," expects the LinkPHL-branded sidewalk kiosks will receive final approval from the art commission around Nov. 1, said Stacey Levine, Intersection vice president of communications.

Each kiosk measures 11 inches wide by 35 inches deep and 9.5 feet high, with video screens on both sides. The kiosk functions as a Wi-Fi hot spot and provides a tablet-based terminal where a passerby can make a free, domestic voice-over-internet call using the on-board microphone and speaker or, for privacy, their own plug-in headset. 

There are 80 kiosks planned on Center City and University City sidewalks and 20 planned for other locations.

Scenic Philadelphia Director Mary Tracy, director of Scenic Philadelphia, said at a hearing that the city is already at a saturation point with advertising, calling the kiosks "one more crack in the city's landscape."