America’s Sorriest Bus Stop: San Juan vs. Chapel Hill

These stops are located on the NC Highway 54 bypass, which looks and feels like a highway, complete with interchanges instead of traffic lights. There are no safe ways to cross nearby. The only way to avoid crossing the highway to get to the other side requires walking half a mile along the highway to the on/off ramp, crossing under the highway overpass, and walking back up the other ramp and along the highway again to reach the stop on the other side. (Although in NC, it is illegal to walk or bike along Highways like NC 54.) The road has a posted 45 mph speed limit; however, people treat it like a highway and tend to drive much faster.

There are over 500 apartments adjacent to these bus stops on either side of the highway, and these are major stops for people going to and from class and/ or work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with 250 people getting on or off of the bus at these stops (based on 2012 passenger counts). Many people who live in these apartments, myself included, are students or support staff at the university and either do not own a car or are unable to purchase parking permits and have no choice but to cross the highway to get to the bus stops.

This bus stop’s depressing quality stands out due to its central location in the city. It is served by trunk route T8 which connects to the University of Puerto Rico, a busy commercial corridor, neighborhoods and 2 metro stations. The stop is ideally sandwiched between parked cars but protected by two yellow concrete bollards. The local business seems to think it could be put to better use as a trash collection stop. At least you can always attempt to loiter inside the businesses to escape the perishing lack of street trees or any form of stop shelter. This stop is ripe for intervention.