Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2006 > July > 11 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USCounty’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.
Comments
By Jan
July 11, 2006 07:00 AM | Link to this
Well, I think they should learn to carry an umbrella, Just In Case!!!!!!
By Wilma
July 11, 2006 08:26 AM | Link to this
Gwinnett County has a problem with timing. After many, many sub-divisions have been built in the county, the powers that be decide that “maybe” sidewalks are needed. After graffiti has overtaken some neighborhoods, they finally decide to “create” a taskforce on eliminating the problem. They finally get a bus system in place, but they have to “wait”? until they get a gauge on the number of riders they will accomodate? In comparison to the price of purchasing a bus and building shelters, I’m sure there is no comparison. When the brain power of Gwinnett finally learned that not every person in Gwinnett owned or had access to a car, the transit plan took place. Shelters should have been on the drawing board and put into place when the buses started to roll and the bus stops designated. Maybe sometime in 20015, Gwinnett Transit will decide that additional buses and routes are needed. Gwinnett County has grown and will continue to grow, so Gwinnett County needs to get their behinds in gear and plan ahead instead of waiting for a problem to exist for years and then try to resolve it!!
By Pam
July 11, 2006 08:41 AM | Link to this
I too was wondering why they wouldn’t keep an umbrella handy—just in case. Umbrellas are good for blocking the rain AND the sun. I hope the new “shelters” aren’t eyesores and hopefully they are taking alot of time because it’s going to be an eyepleasing design.
By Janet_G
July 11, 2006 10:29 AM | Link to this
I agree that bus riders need shelters, but all I can think is “Oh, great, something else for the taggers to spray-paint”. I am so sick of seeing graffitti on every wooden fence, electrical transformer, sides of trucks, buildings, private homes, dumpsters, street signs, trees, I’ve even seen the taggers climb onto rooftops and spray paint their scribblings. What’s really frustrating is the websites and now rock bands that promote and encourage young people to “Graffiti The World”. I guess if you’re not taught how to read and write in school to the level of being able to compose a paragraph that others want to read, this is how you opt to express yourself, by writing your name on overpasses and soon, bus shelters.
By Another problem
July 11, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this
Gwinnett Transit isn’t MARTA. I’m right on the line on Graves Road, and I’ve yet to see more than 2-3 people on a GT bus at one time, and RARELY see them actually waiting for a bus. Why waste tax dollars on shelters for 1 or 2 people? If they don’t like the sun or rain, do like the previous commenter said, use an umbrella. It serves a dual purpose, and it’s cheaper. Gwinnett has already wasted enough money on the buses.
By Ajamu
July 11, 2006 11:29 AM | Link to this
As Gwinnett enters the 21st century with a public transportation system some of the comments mystify me. LOng term residents of Gwinnett appear to be out of touch with the realities of the modern world. With gasoline prices soaring, public transportation is the only way out of the commuting nightmare in this county. Even if you can afford to drive a gas guzzling, polluting Hummer or what ever, it makes no sense that non polluter commuters should have to suffer the elements waiting for the bus. I’m sure that most Gwinnettans realize that blocking MARTA resulted in nothing except greater congestion on the roads and more frustrated drivers. It did not stop Africans, African-Americans,Asians or Mexicans from moving or working here. It is high time that the bus shelters are erected to protect children and the elderly from the ravages of the weather
By Bruce Wilcox
July 11, 2006 12:56 PM | Link to this
It would almost seem like the county wants the system to fail. With low usage they can always say, “Hey, we tried”. I believe the county commissioners call that long range planning.
Another problem without having shelters is finding the bus stop. My wife dropped off our car for servicing and figured she would take the bus to the mall. She wasted most of the time finding the bus stop. Thankfully a store employee came out and directed her to the stop, he added, “Don’t worry it happens all the time”.
My wife enjoyed the friendly service, the driver seemed to know most riders and the regular riders were helpful in giving my wife the locations of the other stops. But what she enjoyed the most was seeing a lot of the county without the hassle of driving.
By Martin
July 11, 2006 01:11 PM | Link to this
Pam, how many times do people loose umbrellas? Also who wants to have to carry one very day?! They may have other things they need to carry. It would be better if the shelters were built not only for the purpose of shelter but so everyone knows where the designated bust stops are. However, I have to agree with Janet as well. In New York, we now have graffiti free trains. Maybe they could use the same material to make sure graffiti does not corrode the bus stop. Great point Ajamu! Gwinnett County cannot keep paving its way out of traffic and congestion.
Trust me, as soon as they get a bus service that goes from Lawrenceville to Alpharetta without having to go all the way down to the perimeter and back up GA 400, I will be on the bus!
By Enough already
July 11, 2006 01:47 PM | Link to this
I don’t see where G.T. is making a big difference anyway. The service is extremely limited, not to mention the fact that if you want to connect to MARTA at Doraville, you must transfer to another G.T. bus on Buford Hwy. by crossing that busy highway to get to the transfer stop. VERY dangerous! Forget shelters, you wimps…learn to carry and use an umbrella and/or raincoat. They make them small enough to fit into a coat pocket or purse. If you lose it, oh well. Let’s fix it so people don’t have to risk their lives to cross a busy highway at all hours of the day and night.
By Yardie
July 12, 2006 02:56 PM | Link to this
Do you realize how many shelters would have to be built? Bus stops (it seems) are about 50’ apart, making hundreds of them in a few mile stretch. Now multiply that by several hundred (or thousand) dollars for each shelter. (I’ll bet 3/4 of these bus stops are probably not even used.) Who is going to pay for the survey to find out which ones “deserve” the shelters, if not all of them? Leave well enough alone. Carry an umbrella. Learn to be a responsible adult and not lose it if you want to stay dry or out of the sun. No wonder our kids are wimps…they are watching their parents whine about getting wet or hot. Awwwww.
By Dave
July 12, 2006 09:34 PM | Link to this
The GT is one big joke. I feel the management is absoluely out of the loop on where the buses need to run, how often, and where shelters, if needed, should be located. All these GT managers need to do is visit a country like Costa Rica to learn the proper way to move people. These guys have been moving the masses, by the bus load, in a very efficient way for many many years. Good luck on our next bus ride. The route will surely not be the best or very cost effecive.