Stopping to Look at Bus Stops

For Transit Equity Day, held on February 4th, in recognition of Rosa Parks’ birthday, I thought I’d post photos from a couple bus stops here in La Crosse, which isn’t as bad as a lot of cities in the U.S. for transit (which isn’t saying much).

This isn’t a stop that I use, but I pass it on my way to the laundromat. The pictures of the tree and the bench on the sign recently caught my eye and made me think it would be really nice if the stop actually had a tree and a bench.

WestStopMed  WestStopClose2

With the multiple widenings of the street for vehicle traffic by the state Department of Transportation, though, there isn’t much space left. At least not on the boulevard (or terrace, as the buffer zone is called in some places).

The street used to actually HAVE trees, as these photos from a project of the La Crosse Public Library Archives and History Department show. They’re taken on the same street, from a block and a half north (facing south, as are my photos).

59_1970.jpg  59_2003

The first shot (1970) actually looks like a nice street to walk along. The second one (2003) doesn’t look quite as nice, but doesn’t look as punitive (and dangerous) as this stretch is for pedestrians today.

The next photos are of a bus stop that I do use. It’s the closest one to where my husband and I buy groceries.

WFStopClose.jpg  WFStopFar

Again, it would be considerate to have an actual bench or a tree, or even a shelter, especially when the weather’s bad, but at least the street itself isn’t designed like a highway. It doesn’t feel as unwelcoming. Yet it is kind of ironic how much shelter and shade drivers are offered while doing their banking behind the stop, by comparison.

WFdrivethrough1.jpg

 

 

What Year Is It?

I suppose it’s appropriate to have a little 1970s-style station wagon in WisDOT’s proposed street redesign, since the design itself is out of that era: “Improve safety” by removing trees and adding another lane of asphalt to give the drivers more unobstructed space. (Maybe the car just came with the template?)

Unfortunately, it’ll probably be a big truck or SUV that takes out the first pedestrian or bicyclist at high speed.

DOTproposesm2.jpg

Stepping Out

So you’ve decided you want to get your steps in outdoors, you can no longer afford your car (or you’ve never had one), or your bike’s in the shop. Whatever the reason, you’re ready to step out on foot. Good news! If you’re a human, you were built for this. Chances are you already own some footwear and have spent time in a yard, at a park, or on sidewalks. So this should come naturally. The challenge comes when mixing it up with automobiles. For these occasions, we offer some suggestions.

10 Tips for Crossing the Street

  1. It’s best not to cross the street in the United States, but if you must cross there, cross in a northern state rather than the Sun Belt, where pedestrian deaths as a percentage of walking trips are consistently higher.
  2. Cross the street while White. Crossing while Black increases your chances for being killed by 72%.
  3. Cross while under age 75. Under 50 is preferable. If you must cross the street while older, find an intersection with a longer crossing signal.
  4. Choose “complete streets,” designed to accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users rather than just drivers.
  5. Cross 100 years ago, before automobiles began crowding the streets and the notion of “jaywalking” was invented.
  6. There’s safety in numbers, so cross with a group. Join a Safe Route to Schools walking school bus or a charity run or walk. (This may require some advance scheduling.)
  7. Cross in a higher-income area and choose a neighborhood built prior to the 1950s, where blocks are shorter and streets are narrower (as long as they haven’t been “improved” by a state Department of Transportation).
  8. Cross a street with lower average vehicle speeds. Nine out of 10 pedestrians survive a crash with a vehicle going 20 mph, 5 out of 10 when hit at 30 mph, and only 1 in 10 at 40 mph or higher.
  9. If you must get hit by a vehicle, be hit by a sedan rather than a truck or an SUV, which are 2 to 3 times more likely to kill you.
  10. Cross in a location where drivers aren’t texting.

Fun fact: Between 2008 and 2017, 49,340 people were killed while travelling by foot in the United States.
See “Dangerous by Design” by Smart Growth America for more numbers and insight.

—Bridget C. Brown