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Tuesday, July 11, 2006
County’s bus riders still waiting for promised shelters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It started to rain.
John Baker was waiting to catch a bus, and in Gwinnett County, bus stops don’t have shelters. Baker took refuge under a tree that afternoon three weeks ago. Little good that did. The man still got drenched.
“I was soaked and shaking,” said Baker, who works for a food processing plant in Duluth. “It was cold. I got sick.”
It wasn’t raining Monday. I came across Baker and Jeffrey Faulk, another rider, waiting for the northbound 12:45 p.m. bus off Buford Highway in Norcross. It was steamy hot, and the two men were roasting in the mid-day sun.
“John’s story covered the rain, but on days like this when it’s hot, it would be nice to have some shelter, too” said Faulk, a College Park resident who works for a temp agency in Norcross. “We’re just out here in the elements.”
Last July, I wrote a column about Gwinnett transit and how it was slowly but surely taking root in this car-crazy county. I suggested one thing the transit system could do to boost ridership and that was to install shelters over the green metal benches that serve as designated bus stops. They might also consider adding benches at some stops.
Back then, Tim Collins, the transit director, said the county had chosen to hold off on shelters until they got a better feel for ridership and whatnot. He said a contract had been awarded to a private company, and that shelters would be installed by next year. That’s “next year” as in 2006. Now.
It hasn’t happened. The county’s 7,000 or so daily riders are still enduring heat, rain and cold while waiting to climb aboard. They deserve better. This county can do better by them, too, and it should if transit officials expect to increase the number of riders.
Patrons like Baker and Faulk aren’t picky. They don’t want a fancy shelter, just something utilitarian.
“Just make it big enough for eight to 10 people to stand or sit in without getting wet,” Faulk said. “Just a little cover. No big deal.” “The bus service is good,” Baker noted. “Once in a blue moon, a bus is late. But in Georgia, we need shelters. You know how it is. It might rain today. Tomorrow, it might be sunny.”
After I left Baker and Faulk, I cruised up Buford Highway and other parts of the county looking for bus stops, looking for shelters. I saw plenty of bus stops. No shelters.
I didn’t have to tell Mr. Collins that. He already knew.
“Our contractor had a problem with the original shelter design,” he said in a phone message. “It became unavailable, so they had to have a new shelter designed, and find a local manufacturer to make them.”
“[The contractor] has done that, and they are in the process of finalizing the drawing and paperwork that will be necessary for them to obtain permits to construct the shelters. We have about 15 shelters that should be put up fairly soon.”
Too bad it won’t be sooner.
This week’s forecast calls for highs in the 80s. Expect scattered thunderstorms, too.
Bus riders better be prepared to take shelter.
