Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

First round action in Streetsblog's Sorriest Bus Stop in America competition continues today with two formidable West Coast contenders.

Let's take a look at the shoddy pedestrian environment that sprawling land use planning, car-centric street design, and plain old disregard for bus riders have created in what are supposedly two enlightened regions of the country. Vote for the worst and decide which bus stop will go on to the Elite 8 and potential national infamy.

Fremont, California

Fremont-bus-stop

Reader Larry Kawalec submitted this stop, located, appropriately enough, at Auto Mall Parkway and Technology Drive. He says it's within one mile of...

[a] nursing school, mobile home park, churches, swim school, a REI store, and many, many employers including a HP facility employing a thousand people. The bus connects to regional transit (BART).

Meanwhile, he says, the conditions are terrible:

Nursing students need to walk 1/2 mile in the bike lane next to 45+ heavy traffic.

Auto mall is a cut through between the 880 and 680 freeways.

Note the pitiful handicapped ramp but no sidewalk.

And that little metal structure next to the bus stop pole? It's not to lean against -- it's to stop people from walking across Auto Mall Parkway.

Agencies responsible: Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, Fremont Public Works.

Seattle

Seattle bus stop

This stop comes from reader Alexander Lew, who writes:

Here's one in Seattle, WA (yes, in a city that funded $54 billion in transit improvements!). The bus lets you off onto the freight railroad tracks. When it's rainy (which is like most of the year), the trackbed gets pretty muddy.

Imagine standing at that stop with a train roaring behind you, and high-speed traffic in front of you.

Agencies responsible: Washington DOT, King County Metro.

bus_stop_2017

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Tuesday’s Headlines Show Elections Have Consequences

"Woke" transit agencies need not apply for federal grants now that father of nine Sean Duffy is in charge.

May 20, 2025

Should We Treat the Local Bus As a Basic Right?

There's a way of framing public transit that makes the bus a useful mobility tool for everyone: as a moving extension of the sidewalk network.

May 20, 2025

Op-Ed: Public Transportation is Key to Social Mobility

"As wealth inequality grows and social mobility becomes more difficult, people without access to mobility will be left behind."

May 19, 2025

Car Harms Monday: Machines Took Over Cities and Left Humans in the Dust

There isn't enough physical space for every single household to store its fleet of personal vehicles in front of the home, nor is there space for everyone to drive at the same time. So let's fix that.

May 19, 2025

What Are University Transportation Centers — And Why Did Secretary Duffy Decimate Their Budgets?

University Transportation Centers are "where innovation happens." Earlier this month, though, the Trump administration took a sledgehammer to their budgets.

May 19, 2025

Monday’s Big, Beautiful Headlines

Ride-hailing and delivery apps are backing the Republican reconciliation bill because it includes a tax exemption for drivers' tips.

May 19, 2025
See all posts