Freezing and wet bus riders = no litter? The case of the runaway bus shelter

author : Chris Allert topic : Intercity Transit

by Chris Allert

You may recall that back in 2002 the bus shelter at Harrison & Division was removed, and then replaced a short time later. On Sunday, September 24, I noticed that the shelter had been removed again. I remembered reading about the issue in Works In Progress at the time, so I looked it up on the WIP web-site ( http://www.olywip.org ). I learned that what happened in 2002 is that the owner of the pharmacy adjacent to it complained about the litter, and so Intercity Transit removed the shelter. In response to the Works In Progress article, enough people complained to both Intercity Transit and the pharmacy, that the owner of the pharmacy asked that the shelter be replaced.

Well, they're up to their old tricks again.

First thing Monday morning I called Intercity Transit customer service and asked what happened to the shelter. The person on the phone said that DeGarmo's Pharmacy (once again) complained about the litter, and so Intercity Transit is looking for a new location for the stop, but they don't have any idea when the stop will actually be moved, as they haven't found a new location yet. I told her that this is one of the stops that used to have a garbage can, but that it no longer does.

I then called DeGarmo's Pharmacy. The pharmacist wouldn't be in for several days, but the person on the phone said that yes, they had asked that the stop be removed because there was too much litter. Seconds after I got off the phone, she called me back to say that it was the bus stop that was the problem, not the shelter, and that she didn't see how removing the shelter would reduce the litter.

Since winter is approaching, and since we bus riders don't enjoy standing in the wind and rain with all our bags from the dollar store and the off-brand grocery store, please, for our sake, call both DeGarmo's Pharmacy and Intercity Transit. Emphasize that this bus shelter is of critical importance to bus riders. It's in a high traffic area, serving several bus routes, making it a necessary place for both shelter and seating. Remind Intercity Transit of their responsibility to the public, and ask DeGarmo's to be a good commercial citizen.

At the very least, Intercity Transit should replace the shelter until the bus stop is actually moved.

DeGarmo's Pharmacy: (360) 709-9999

Intercity Transit: (360) 786-1881

2002 articles on this issue:

http://www.olywip.org/old_site/www.olywa.net/wip/April2002/BusStopCase.html

http://www.olywip.org/old_site/www.olywa.net/wip/May2002/Announce.html