people can lean on it when they might not want to sit because of weather)
designed to prevent undesirables like homeless people from being comfortable?
I think more for women/men holding babies or with there prams.strollers etc so they can lean and travel comfortably,as those kind of cushioned things are also in Metro and trams,dont remember if they are in buses also.I have seen lots of people holding babies leaning on them.
They are all over in Warszawa bus stops and in trams and Metro.I have been seeing them for decades now.I remember now that initially I also wondered but then I saw people with kids using them.In fact I personally prefer to lean against that than sitting in a tram.
They're not a thing over here either. I had to google as I'd never seen them before but they do look like them! It would never have occurred to me to even cook something like that but there are lots of recipes! Pawian tends to go for obscure food too.......