Friday, September 11, 2009

UPDATE: Bus Shelter now a Bus "Stop"


Who needs to ponder trees falling in forests? Here's a question for our era: "If a bus doesn't stop at a bus stop because there's no one there to stop for, is it still a bus stop?"

Yesterday, I noticed that one of the DASH bus stop signs along West Glebe Road had been moved to the new bus shelter we talked about last week. The switch was obviously hastily made -- bus stop signs aren't typically attached to lamp posts and the post for the former stop is still standing --but it's good to see that someone is paying attention.

While at other bus stops this morning, crowds waited out in the pouring rain, this spiffy new shelter still goes unused; keeping only the pavement dry. And at most of the area apartment buildings, shopping areas, rec centers or parks, if they are lucky enough to have a bus stop, there is no shelter. And where there are shelters -- like the one and only (next to a gas station) on Mt Vernon Avenue in Arlandria -- they aren't well placed (that shelter floods when it rains).

The attempt to provide such an amenity with the new development on West Glebe, might have been well intended, but, with competing needs, is this money well spent? And how about those funds that were allocated years ago -- and remain unspent -- to provide shelters where they are actually needed.



And how about placing stops were people who use buses actually live? Kind of a no-brainer, right? I'll be pondering that too whenever I see this stop and the vandalism that is still un-repaired.

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