A new Bus Stop on Fenton St - right across from the Civic Building - not connected to any sidewalk. Pedestrians must tippy-toe along this busy street to get to the Bus Stop. Anyone in a wheelchair is just out of luck, and a blind person is going to have a time here, too. Considering that Transit Users are pedestrians at both ends of the trip, how can you have a Bus Stop that isn't connected to the sidewalk? Where are those who alight here supposed to go? A driver must have designed this Bus Stop, forgetting that riders don't just materialize. I wonder what this stop would look like if a Transit User had designed it? I bet that it would look completely different - in a good way.
I have been watching this construction for the past few weeks and it has been really irking me. Looks like the same half-assed design as the one at Georgia Ave across from Discovery where you have to SQUEEZE between the tree box and the side of the shelter to board your bus. WHO is this shelter for? People who just get off and waut for the next bus? certainly doesn't encourage anyone to visit an adjacent business!
ReplyDeleteswing and a miss
ReplyDeleteLooks like it's designed to prevent all but the most agile of us from reaching the bus or escaping the shelter.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the ACLU would be willing to take this on. Have you tried contacting them? Walking is a right, just like speech and other recognized rights. It seems to me that the government unconstitutionally burdens that right when it erects barriers like this and forces pedestrians to walk into the street (where we do not have right of way by law -- basically, they force every pedestrian to become a jaywalker). It also, as you say, creates an impossible barrier for anyone in a wheelchair and a pretty difficult barrier for anyone with a disability of any kind. It could be argued that the county has denied equal protection to people with disabilities, without any basis.
ReplyDeleteHow do they go through the entire design and build without ONE person saying, "Hey, something is wrong here?"
ReplyDeleteMaybe they did...?
Eileen,
ReplyDeleteI would like to participate in a positive way. I would rather not file suit, or complain, or accuse. What I really want is for this to matter to enough local people - to be important enough - to receive proactive attention. Maybe you get one by doing the other, I don't know.
What I do know is that I can't participate in County-led efforts - mostly because they are so frustratingly slow an ineffective. I can't work through my citizens' association because they are almost calcified. They think 1950's infrastructure is just fine. I have tried starting a group a couple of times, but I guess I don't have the talent for that - at least not in this intricate neo-bourgeois neighborhood.
So, here we are. Blogging. I am wielding this tool the best I can. Not ready to put myself in close proximity to many lawyers. not yet.
it really does speak volumes. . .like: bus riders, get on the bus, stay on the bus, if you MUST get off the bus, stay in the designated bus stop area and wait to board the next bus. non bus riding people, stay away from the bus riders while they await the next bus. DO NOT FEED THE BUS RIDERS!
ReplyDeleteI really had to try hard not to refer to the bus riders as "people" too!
Surprise - someone is listening - today they tore down this brand new shelter - hoping a BETTER design is going in ASAP
ReplyDeleteI walked down this stretch for the first time in three weeks today. WOW. It's like it never happened. Was it all just a bad dream???
ReplyDeletecongratulations!!! a little exposure goes a long way!! keep at it and we will too.
ReplyDelete