Bus Stop Improvement Program Enhances Safety, Accessibility at Nearly 3,000 Stops

An eight-year bus stop improvement program has enhanced Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility and pedestrian safety at 2,879 bus stops.

A survey of the County’s 5,400 stops identified 3,400 that needed some type of improvement.

Bus stop improvements have included construction of:

• 1,246 ramps at 813 intersections; 
• 79,240 square feet of sidewalk leading to bus stops; 
• 161,647 square feet of five-by-eight-foot concrete pads at 2,400 bus stops; and 
• 408 “knee walls” at sloped sites to prevent wheelchairs from rolling onto dangerous terrain and to provide seating for waiting passengers. 

In addition to ensuring ADA compliance, bus stop upgrades also reduce the distance to crosswalks, provide pedestrian refuge islands, establish connections to existing sidewalks, address slope issues and improve drainage.

The Department of Transportation (MCDOT) continues efforts to improve the remaining 500 bus stops. Upgrading these stops is more complex, because many are on roads not originally built to accommodate pedestrians. MCDOT is also improving about 600 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) stops and 900 stops shared between Metro and Ride On in Montgomery County.

Get more information from the news release.