A lonely signpost located at the side of a busy Vancouver-area highway has been dubbed the "Sorriest Bus Stop" in all of North America.
Readers of a U.S.-based transit blog voted to give the dubious distinction to a sad stop in Pitt Meadows, located on the shoulder of the Lougheed Highway near Old Dewdney Trunk Road.
The person who nominated the stop said it gives people with mobility issues little choice but to wait for the 701 and 791 buses just a few feet from highway traffic.
It beat out another bus stop in Cincinnati by a vote of 58 per cent to 42 per cent.
"In the end, voters spoke clearly," Streetsblog USA wrote. "There was something about Vancouver's abomination that stood out."
Another factor that pushed the Pitt Meadows stop ahead, according to the blog: Regional transit officials in Ohio responded to the contest by promising to quickly move the Cincinnati stop to a safer location.
"In a perfect world, Streetsblog wouldn't have to shame local transit agencies and transportation departments into making bus stops meet minimum safety standards," the blog wrote. "But clearly that's not the world we live in yet."
Unfortunately for bus passengers in Pitt Meadows, the response to the unflattering coverage of that bus stop has not been so swift.
Back when the bus stop was announced as a finalist in the contest, TransLink told CTV News the land is owned by the B.C. government, and that it had already been asking the province for improvements.
The Ministry of Transportations said it is "discussing possible options to improve safety," but did not give a clear timeline on when a fix could actually take place.
Jason Lee, who entered the Pitt Meadows stop into the contest, described it as a "major safety hazard" in his submission. He noted the stop is located on a concrete Jersey barrier that only serves as protection for people who can easily climb over it when the bus arrives.
With files from CTV Vancouver's St. John Alexander
