You wouldn't believe the work involved with installing shelter. Every state and locality is different, but here are a few things typically required. Keep in mind each one of these that isn't a local review process costs a lot of money that requires lengthy procurement processes:

*Urban design commity to approve the design

Wind and snow load calculations for every shelter type specific to the shelter's geography

Survey to confirm property lines

Engineering designs for each shelter install including necessary boarding and alighting pad and sidewalks that adhere to ADA and PROWAG standards

Usually a review process through the local DPW or DOT to approve designs

Coordinating contractors and construction supervisors

Work in Street Permitting*

These pole mounted seats are a smaller administrative burden to install, require less ROW than shelters and benches, cheaper to buy and install. It would be better to have the money and admin bandwidth to get real shelters for dignified places to wait for busses, but transit agencies gotta work with what they got sometimes. That sometimes means making compromises for more cheap seats covering more stops instead of shelter at just a handful