Here in Munhall, at one of America’s sorriest bus stops, one step in any direction could be bad news.
One foot forward, and there’s the high-speed traffic of Route 837. One step back, and there’s a 20-foot sloped hill leading to railroad tracks. There’s no bench, it’s littered with trash and the only place to stand is on a 2-foot-by-2-foot gravel patch.
“It’s pretty sad,” said Dwane Gongaware, 44, of Whitaker. “It’s in the same shape as it was 20 years ago, in the same spot. [Bus stops] usually have, like, glass or something around them, or at least a bench.”
Now it’s famous.
The bus stop, opposite Hilltop Street on the Port Authority’s 61C inbound line, has made it to the second round in America’s Sorriest Bus Stop Tournament, an annual online competition hosted by Streetsblog USA, a national website covering transit issues.
In a field of 16 notorious bus stops from across the country, the Munhall stop rolled over its first-round competition by about 500 votes, meaning that it was deemed the “worst” of two bus stops presented as a choice to the website’s visitors. It is three wins away from being crowned America’s sorriest, and Streetsblog USA editor Angie Schmitt said it has a pretty good chance of going all the way.
“If you were trying to navigate that road in a wheelchair, it would be terrifying,” Ms. Schmitt said. “It really does put people in danger.”
Whether it’s the Port Authority of Allegheny County or the borough that bears responsibility for the condition of its bus stops is handled on a case-by-case basis. Munhall borough manager Joe Varhola said he hadn’t heard of any complaints about the stop in question, but said if he had, he would first contact the Port Authority.
Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie called the description and photo on the Streetsblog’s tournament entry “misleading.”
“The Authority placed a bus stop at the foot of Hilltop Drive, along River Road, so that people who live in that neighborhood would have access to a bus route — in this case, the 61C,” Mr. Ritchie said in an emailed statement. “The break in the guide rail gives customers a place to wait off of the street for buses heading inbound.”
For Pittsburgh-area transit riders, Munhall’s stop isn’t the only risky spot. Pittsburgh has another participant in Streetsblog’s competition: the stop on the Boulevard of the Allies beneath the Duquesne University footbridge. It, too, has made it to the second round.
This stop, on the 28x, 65, 67 and 69 bus lines, is only accessible by walking across the overpass, or by ascending the daunting South Side steps. Even then, only a small gap in the concrete highway barrier separates the transit rider and the busy boulevard.
Mr. Ritchie said the Port Authority agrees that topography is a “challenge” for the transit system, sometimes not allowing bus stops to “have features that we’d prefer them to have.”
“Although we work to ensure our bus stops are as safe and accessible as possible, these barriers certainly make it difficult. Riders use these bus stops despite their lack of features because they rely on public transportation,” Mr. Ritchie said, adding that the Duquesne stop makes it so the bus lines are accessible to university students, staff and others.
Anurag Purker, a 23-year-old Moon resident on his way to class at Duquesne, chuckled Thursday when he heard the stop was being considered one of America’s sorriest.
“That’s pretty funny,” he said, adding that he has no ill will toward the stop, and that it’s actually quite convenient for him. “America must have some pretty nice bus stops.”
Though the compeition is meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, it underscores a bigger problem about mass transit, said Ms. Schmitt. Often, she said, there aren’t safe facilities for pedestrians and transit users, and she pointed to a study showing that riders often value walkability and comfort of bus stops as important parts of their experience.
“If transit agencies aren’t paying attention to this and city governments aren’t paying attention to this, then ridership on these publicly funded transit systems will suffer,” Ms. Schmitt said.
The Streetsblog competition is finishing up its first round of voting. There is a chance the two Pittsburgh-area bus stops could meet in the semifinals.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: September 1, 2017, 11:30 a.m.
Updated: September 1, 2017, 12:21 p.m.
