Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In

If you harbor any doubt that America treats bus riders as second-class citizens, look no further than these two bus stops.

Miami and New Orleans face off as we deliver more first round action in the 2018 Sorriest Bus Stop tournament. At these bus stops, car-centric development, poor maintenance, and plain old neglect have conspired to deliver horrific waiting environments for bus riders. Our cities need to do better.

So far NashvilleCincinnatiBeverly HillsPittsburgh, and McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, have sent bus tops through to the Elite Eight. Which of these bus stops deserves to join them?

Miami

davie_stop
false

This horrifying stop in the Miami suburb of Davie, Florida, comes to us from reader Ryan Shedd.

It's on Route 84, a Florida DOT service road for I-595, and it's on the wrong side of a highway sound barrier. Bus riders walk through a gap in the sound barrier to get between this stop and the suburban housing development on the other side.

This bus stop illustrates how irregular suburban street networks that funnel traffic onto highways are incompatible with good transit. There are a lot of homes near this bus stop, but the streets where those homes are located don't form a walkable grid. Instead of walking to a human-scaled avenue to catch the bus, riders have to head out to this hellacious traffic sewer.

New Orleans

new orleans bus stop 2
false

Reader Lawrence Mason submitted this sorry, sorry bus stop on Sullen Place in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. Mason writes:

The grass surrounding the bus stop has grown well beyond four feet in height -- except for a patch of grass that is kept at ankle/shin height. Additionally, this stop has no sidewalk despite its location right across the street from an apartment complex.

The stop is served by multiple RTA bus routes, but it looks like this is a failure of the city and its Department of Public Works more than the transit agency.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Hundreds of Community Groups — From the Far Right to the Socialists! — Demand Daylighting

Two hundred New York City groups from across the ideological spectrum joined calls to ban parking at corners in order to improve safety and visibility, also known as daylighting.

October 24, 2025

OPINION: Canal Street — Not The Vendors — Is the Problem

If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor — and is true to his vision for a fair, livable city — he will have to take on this long-ignored corridor. Here's how.

October 24, 2025

Vision Zero Cities: Bicycles Are Not Cars So They Shouldn’t Have to Follow the Same Rules

The default in nearly all states is to impose the same traffic rules on bicycles as on motor vehicles even though the needs of cyclists are so different.

October 24, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Today’s the Day Edition

Mayor Adams's new 15 mph speed limit is officially goes into effect today. Plus more news.

October 24, 2025

Cough, Cough: DEP Considers Largest Ever Exemption Request to City’s Anti-Idling Law

Academy Bus claims no technological alternatives exist for heating and cooling buses without idling. Advocates warn an exemption would "gut" the city's 50-year-old idling ban.

October 23, 2025

Truckers to US DOT: Busways Are Good for Us!

The federal government has obviously lost its trucking mind.

October 23, 2025
See all posts