November 15, 2010 | 4:45 PM | By

Relegating Buses to Second-Class Status

FILED UNDER: Public Transportation, Access, Race and Class, WMATA

iwantamonkey

WMATA Bus Stop in Hyattsville, MD

Here’s a great post about how much the location of a bus stop matters. Poorly-located or -designed stops discourage riders from using the bus, unless they absolutely have to. Additionally, the fact that some malls don’t want bus stops on their property reinforces the “second-class” perception of that mode of tranpsort:

The result is to create additional burdens on those using the bus for shopping, requiring them to haul or push their purchases a significant distance to the bus stop, a process that would be particularly unpleasant in rain or snow (or, here in Vegas, when it’s 117 degrees), or for those with mobility issues.

When mass transit stops are systematically located in inconvenient or isolated areas, it disadvantages those who are dependent on public transportation and discourages others from choosing to ride rather than driving their own car, and reinforces a common perception of the bus, in particular, as an inferior form of transportation…

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →

  • Golden Silence

    Tell me about it. Years ago, in my hometown of Buffalo, it took the death of a woman trying to cross the busy Walden Avenue (which is basically a seven-lane highway in the suburbs) to get to the Galleria for them to finally install a bus stop on the mall’s property. I remember having to cross Walden myself from the bus stop to get to the Galleria and I felt as if I was cheating death each time. It was the scariest experience to cross that street, especially when you have drivers too concerned with beating the light to care about pedestrians trying to cross the street.

    Here’s an article Time did about it years back.