The Pitt Meadows bus stop nominated as the “sorriest” in North America has won that dubious distinction.
In a contest of online voting, the stop along the Lougheed Highway’s westbound lane, just before the Pitt River Bridge, got the most “support.”
The contest was put on by usa.streetsblog.org and ended on Thursday.
“The horrendous bus stop on the Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows, just outside of Vancouver, has won our annual contest, trouncing Cincinnati in a 58-42 per cent landslide,” it said.
The stop along Highway 7 sees transit riders leap a barrier to board the bus, and was billed “a scary situation on the outskirts of Vancouver,” in earier Streetsblog posts.
There was a mitigating factor in the final voting, in that officials with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Agency told Streetsblog that they had removed their “sorry bus stop.”
“In the end, voters spoke clearly: Vancouver, your stop is the sorriest in North America, ” wrote Gersh Kuntzman of Streetsblog.
Unlike Ohio officials, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Translink has not taken fast action to fix the stop, although these agencies have said they will be dealing with the issue.
“TransLink does not own the location of this bus stop, as is the case with many bus stops it services,” said TransLink spokesman Chris Bryan. “We work with the group which has the authority over the roads. This location is the property of BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. We are aware of the access concerns with this stop and are working with the Ministry to address them.”
There had been predictions the Pitt Meadows stop would win by online participants.
“There was something about Vancouver’s abomination that stood out. Maybe it was the sad guy in the white shirt. Maybe it was the ugly jersey barrier. Maybe it was just the desolation,” wrote Kuntzman.