Engineer restores pay phones for free public use
23 comments
·August 6, 2025pinkmuffinere
bfuller
sandy_coyote
Bfuller- do you happen to be a pastry chef?
dawnerd
Meanwhile California is ripping out all of the call boxes along the roads even in areas with poor cell service. It can’t really cost us that much
mtgentry
There’s probably a vast difference btwn what the state says it costs the maintain them, and what it costs this guy. Really wish there were more opportunities for the public to do stuff like this. There’s been a light out in the alley near me for years and the city won’t fix it. I’d happily do it myself if it was allowed.
rezonant
Guerilla Public Service. If you've not heard of Richard Ankrom who fixed an exit sign on the 110 freeway, check it out. He made a documentary about it (and there are countless other videos on YouTube covering the story).
https://youtu.be/Clgl63CWOkM?si=CZQEzUsY9gWjWbLU
He did it so well, the modification stayed in place for years.
If you can do it right, I say go for it.
pinkmuffinere
Is it literally just the lightbulb? Is it accessible? You should just do it, they likely won’t notice, and even if they do they’re not going to arrest you. If you’re within 30 min of Escondido CA I’ll even come do it for you.
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK
That's not an issue of cost, but the issue of anonymity. Terrorists, child traffickers, illegal immigrants could use them without authorities knowing who is calling.
bluealienpie
You could get a tourist SIM and do the same? Cellphones don't have some perfect identification system.
Animats
The one time, years ago, I tried to use one of those, it was non-functional because someone hadn't paid the cell phone bill.
dawnerd
That’s actually pretty hilariously ironic.
gamblor956
It cost about $1.7 million in LA alone during the Hahn administration.
rezonant
In LA "alone"? The city of Los Angeles has a population of 3.8 million people and in 2025 a budget of about $14 billion. That would be something like 0.01% of LA's budget.
https://cao.lacity.gov/budget25-26/Budget_Summary/2025-26Bud...
That's like saying "At Google alone they spent X dollars" as if it was indicative of companies in general.
To be fair if you mean Kenneth Hahn, and are referring to when he was LA County Chair in 1978, obviously that would be a much larger sum relatively. But it's the largest city in CA now and it was then too.
gnabgib
Discussion (125 points, 2 months ago, 80 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44188204
rock_artist
That’s indeed a very cool thing. I also guess it requires some PR so people would actually know where such phones available.
I wonder how Satellite services that just started to rise lately would change the dead spot issue.
de6u99er
Pay phones might become a thing again, with governments pushing to end of E2E communication.
mattigames
Around 2016 I was visiting the bay area for the first time (and the US for that matter) and my phone ran out of battery, I was kind of lost without the map app and then I spotted a pay phone boot in the distance under some strong sunlight, I wondered if I could get some help with it, maybe bus routes back to the place I was staying, I pick the phone and a few tiny plastic crumbs fell from my hand, it's then when I noticed the handset was completely hollow, I looked more carefully and everything else was hollow too, it felt surreal, a bit like twilight zone but like I traveled through time and just realized it, I knew people didn't used them as much anymore but I guess I just hadn't grasp that they didn't exist any more.
fzeroracer
The loss of pay phones is a really good example of saving pennies and losing essential service as a result of technological progress. When companies started taking them down, local governments should've stepped in to take over or help form a non-profit to maintain these services. There's a number of times where I've been out and about and my phone either can't get service or just inconveniently died on me, and having easy access to a pay phone helps prevent one from being totally stranded. And strangers, rightfully so, are reluctant to share their phone.
Larrikin
The big problem is that the only people I would be able to call in that situation would be my own dead phone, my parents, my friend's house from 5th grade, and the pizza places near where I grew up. I wonder if people younger would even have that many numbers memorized.
null
harper
Surprised no mention of futel
jjmarr
Lmao we still have those exact payphone models in active use at every subway station in Toronto.
They're also for social connectivity in that they're maintained for the suicide hotline at this point.
fitsumbelay
good man
> By Julian Ring
It’s a small thing, but if the reporter picked this story due to their name, I appreciate that decision.