Crews worked Wednesday to improve a Metro Vancouver bus stop deemed the “sorriest” in North America.
The stop, located on Lougheed Highway near the Pitt River Bridge, earned the dubious honour back in September, as a part of an online competition by U.S. transportation blog StreetsBlogUSA.
The person who nominated the Pitt Meadows stop described it as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
The feature that helped define the bus stop as North America’s worst was the fact that in order to be separated from traffic, transit riders had to wait behind a concrete barrier — then actually climb over the top of it to access a bus.
“Transit riders are forced to either a) wait on the other side of the jersey barrier, and then climb over it when the bus arrives, or b) wait on the highway side of the barrier, directly exposed to traffic. Riders in wheelchairs must wait on the highway side of the barrier,” wrote the reader who nominated the stop.
That’s no longer the case for passengers.
Get breaking National news
On Wednesday, crews removed eight pieces of guardrail and paved an area for passengers to safely wait.
“We’re widening it so people can stand back on the other side, and opening it up so when a bus comes you can just come right out and get on a bus,” said a member of the work crew who gave his name only as Bob.
The Pitt Meadows location defeated a stop in Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to become North America’s sorriest.
That came after the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Agency said it would fix the Cincinnati stop.
The Pitt Meadows stop also took down competitors from Beverly Hills, Pittsburgh, and San Rafael, Calif.
-With files from Jon Azpiri
_848x480_1397405763961.jpg?h=360&w=540&crop=1&quality=70&strip=all)
Comments