World's best bus stops

by Rob Peters | May 6, 2008 at 11:36 am

3176 views | 3 Recommendations | 18 comments

Ever sat at a dreary old bus stop and thought, "I bet I could build a better one of these things?" A cappuccino bar, a washroom, maybe some high-speed internet access, a lemonade stand...

Well back in reality, here's an article that highlights some of the better ones around the world.

How about where you live? What makes for a good bus stop? The ones where I live are pink.

Photo courtesy of Simon Clarke

To finish off this series on a positive note, TransitFan provides a few examples of good bus stop design from other parts of the world - both near and far. While most bus stops in our fair city are less than ordinary, should we not be striving for the extraordinary?

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CURITIBA, Brazil – This Brazilian city has probably the coolest-looking bus stops in the world along its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. But they’re also functional. Passengers enter the tubes and pay their fares before boarding, reducing dwell times at stations are to between 15-18 seconds. The tubes also provide shelter from sun, wind, and rain. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to buy a bus ticket at a bus stop in Vancouver? And I’m sure UBC and SFU students would appreciate shelters that truly provide shelter. (photo taken by Morio)

BILBAO, Spain – This city in northern Spain has great bus stop displays. TransitFan isn’t sure if this is real time information, but seeing the expected arrival times of all upcoming buses is a great feature. While this would be very expensive to roll out for even a majority of bus stops in Vancouver, something similar could at least be installed at major intersections where the number of boardings is high. (photo courtesy of Ryan Griffin-Stegink)

SAN FRANCISCO, United States – This photo is of a streetcar stop in the Muni system, showing the actual arrival time for the next streetcar. This would be the promised land for bus riders. The 98 B-Line bus stops have similar signage, but the arrival information is strictly the scheduled arrival time, not the actual arrival time. However, there is talk that TransLink is planning to roll out a system with real time information in the near future. TransitFan’s guess is that the B-Line bus stops will have real time information displayed, while for regular bus routes information will be accessed by cell phone or internet like the current Next Bus service. (photo courtesy of sftrajan)

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popelegantiarum

at 16:58 on May 6th, 2008

In Savannah, the bus stop signs are as artful as the spanish moss and ironwork.

popelegantiarum has contributed a photo to this story.

cynthia yoo

at 17:04 on May 6th, 2008

"as artful as spanish moss and ironwork" I'm going to tuck that phrase away for a rainy day.

sitm

at 17:38 on May 6th, 2008

A bus stop down the street from my house, it's actually a fairly convenient one as it is well lit, relatively spacious, has an enclosure, about 9 buses stop there, and there are shops & eateries galore to be found all around. There are definitely worse places to wait for a bus!

LostMyHeadache has contributed a photo to this story.

Hellmy

at 20:01 on May 6th, 2008

well...this is not my daily basis to take buses.but that day, i tend to take a bus ride to my college.
so what the heck...might as well bring my camera with me.
from the picture, you can see a man with the bag, i feel a bit weird beacause when he talk to the person next to him which i assume his wife,he always look at the bus.maybe there something they talked about that the guy didn't give attention to her.
10 minutes later, came a bus and the couple get's up and go to the bus.

As the man stand up...i was shocked to see that the guy was actually blind.
i never thought that the thing he's holding on to is a blind cane.

Hellmy has contributed a photo to this story.

toastyyy

at 22:26 on May 6th, 2008

We were waiting for a 469 in Slade Green, Erith so we could go home and I was laying on the floor taking pictures. The bus was twenty minutes late and I have a short attention span.

toastyyy has contributed a photo to this story.

zebra404

at 23:26 on May 6th, 2008

zebra404 has contributed a photo to this story.

I've meet this lady the next day at the tram-stop. She was from Bosnia and told me she loved to take pictures with her Canon.

big bozo

at 23:45 on May 6th, 2008

the grubyness of the bus stop grabbed my attention especially after the councils efforts to brighten it up

big bozo has contributed a photo to this story.

mr chiquita

at 00:02 on May 7th, 2008

Taken from the balcony of our flat. Evne though we have a great view of the Liverpool waterfront I've always found this view on to the bus stops strangely interesting. Especially at night with the way the light spills out from under the plastic, metal and glass... it makes the shelters look like little havens... even though that might not always be the case!

mr chiquita has contributed a photo to this story.

Elle-vie

at 00:39 on May 7th, 2008

Walking through a small town in Sommerset, this bus stop sign grabbed my attention. Standing alone in a desolate road...I wondered who the last person was who waited for a bus?

Elle-vie has contributed a photo to this story.

patrick_22_b

at 00:58 on May 7th, 2008

Tibetan girls waiting on a bus stop at Danba (China)

patrick_22_b has contributed a photo to this story.

rumana husain

at 02:09 on May 7th, 2008

rob, this is a great story. i will get my camera and report back later with pictures. for now, popelegantiarum's "as artful as spanish moss and ironwork" has caught my fancy too, and just as cynthia claims, i too will use it 'on a rainy day'. that is if it hasnt got a copyright!

kathysimpson57

at 08:03 on May 7th, 2008

A couple of miles along the A952 from Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire Scotland stands a lonely bus stop, it may not be very intersting or lovely to look at, there is no shelter from the wind or rain for the person who has to wait there or an electronic information board to tell you when the next bus will arrive. Why spoil a good thing though? No scratched plastic glass to obscure the lovely view of the sky and the rolling fields and hills and not the distraction of just another screen in our world. A different picture every second of the day.

kathysimpson57 has contributed a photo to this story.

Modene

at 12:29 on May 7th, 2008

This is a little bus stop in San Francisco not terribly far from Haight and Ashbury. My girlfriend and I were out for a late night walk. I looked over as she passed in front of the softly lit frosted glass and you could practically hear my shoes screech to a halt.

Modene has contributed a photo to this story.

RaulNds

at 17:26 on May 7th, 2008

This is a Bus Stop in the tipically portuguese Baixa(Downtown) of Lisbon. We have these "timers" all over the city, but most of them don't work, so I thought it was a good way of reflecting the country =)

RaulNds has contributed a photo to this story.

Don Harris

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:15 on May 8th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Pgh-P (not verified)

at 15:00 on December 10th, 2008

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.458456,-79.986293&spn=0,359.998895&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.458776,-79.985771&panoid=or7YtcaBoWA2FmdPK3VrQA&cbp=12,211.23430712663298,,0,9.705149281316107

Pittsburgh bus stop that i've always driven by at about 50 mph wondering what it would look like for someone to so much as wait for a bus at it. It is literally in a lane of traffic. The state of this country's infastructure in so many places is beyond inadequate, especially in rust belt cities like Pittsburgh.