The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says it is setting up meetings to discuss what can be done about a Metro Vancouver bus stop that made headlines for being “one of the worst in North America” this week.
The bus stop, on the busy Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows, B.C. – about 40km outside of Vancouver – was nominated in the Streets Blog USA’s annual Sorry Bus Stops contest, and it’s easy to see why.
Google Maps
The contest narrowed down dozens of public nominations of the “sorriest, most dangerous and neglected bus stops” to a list of 16. The public then voted and they’re now down to the top four. We’ll find out next week if the Pitt Meadows stop takes the cake.
Basically, you would have to stand on the highway to catch the bus – exposed to traffic, unless you wanted to jump the jersey barrier when the bus arrived.
The Pitt Meadows stop was submitted to the contest by Jason Lee, who labelled it a “disaster waiting to happen.”
"In my three decades of riding transit, I have never seen a bus stop designed like this," he wrote.
The Ministry says the decision to designate this a bus stop was made by TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Company (one of TransLink’s operating companies).
“It’s concerning to hear that people using this bus stop don’t feel safe, and appreciate that this photo has been brought to our attention,” the Ministry told the Courier.
“We are in the process of setting up meetings with TransLink and the Coast Mountain Bus company to see what we can do to make the bus stop more adequate.”
The Ministry did not give an exact timeline for when the issue would be addressed but said meetings would take place “in the near future.”
“We’ll be discussing possible options for improving safety either at this particular bus stop location or finding a better alternative to this location – as long as there’s pedestrian connectivity and it’s still convenient for transit users,” the Ministry says.
“We’ll be happy to provide an update after these discussions occur.”
