It’s Time to Vote for the Sorriest Bus Stop in America

We asked you to point us to the nation’s worst bus stops and you answered. After receiving dozens of nominees from our readers, Streetsblog editors narrowed the pool down to eight very sorry bus stops.

These bus stops are ugly. Ugly! In a transportation system where public agencies never seem to lack the money for $800 million interchanges or $2 billion highway tunnels, bus stops become an afterthought. Many of these contenders are situated in the midst of car-oriented development without so much as a sidewalk or bench nearby, let alone a shelter. To make transit dignified and comfortable, we need to do better.

Help us crown America’s sorriest bus stop by voting below. Here are the contestants:

Pennsylvania Avenue in Forestville, Maryland

This entry comes to us from author and transit advocate Ben Ross. This is the same Pennsylvania Avenue that runs past the White House:

Cleveland’s No. 86 bus, along Route 237

This one was submitted by Tim Kovach of Cleveland. And it actually is a bus stop, believe it or not. The only indication is a small red and blue circle mounted below the I-71 sign (you’ll probably have to zoom in to see it). It’s not at all clear what bus riders are supposed to do when they get off here. Kovach blames inadequate transit funding from the state of Ohio, which devotes just 94 cents annually per resident to transit, although nearly 1 million people across the state lack access to cars.

Nashville (Bellevue) Old Hickory Boulevard and Highway 70

This entry comes to us from commenter Coffee Partier, who says the carts are left by shoppers at a nearby Kroger who have to walk across a corner gas station to get to the bus. Extra points for the interrupted bike lane.

Dallas — South Great Trinity Forest Way

Commenter AW82 writes:

This stop has no sidewalk, bench, or shelter. It is along an at-grade state highway with a 50 mph speed limit. Moderately-dense (for Dallas) apartments are across the road. The nearest marked crosswalk (or controlled intersection, for that matter) is 1 mile to the east.

Baton Rouge

This beauty was submitted by Janet LaFleur via Twitter, with this caveat:

I’d nominate this one in Baton Rouge except they removed it. Now it’s a one-third-mile walk to next stop.

Encinitas, California

This one comes from @imboande on Twitter, who succinctly sums up the progression from bad to worse:

A year prior, it had a bench.

Houston — 20th Street and Durham

Christopher Andrews in Houston says of this bus stop:

This is an intersection that, as a result of System Reimagining, will be a transfer point between two frequent routes: 20 Cavalcade (which will provide a connection to the Red Line light rail) and the new 50 Route… There’s no bus shelter, trash receptacle, light or bench. Houston’s sun, heat and sudden downpours can make waiting for a connecting bus a very unpleasant experience. There are also no crosswalk signals and inadequate crosswalk painting in all of the crosswalks. In a city that’s ruled by cars, pedestrians should have all the protection they can get if they must cross major thoroughfares to access frequent transit routes and transfer points.

St. Louis County

This comes to us via Alex Ihnen of NextSTL, who writes:

Short of a bus stop actually in a traffic lane, this must be the worst.

True? You decide:

Voting will close next Thursday, February 12. Thanks for your entries everyone and stay tuned.