America’s Sorriest Bus Stop: Boston vs. Nassau County, NY

Our search for the sorriest bus stop in America — a virtual tour of the deplorable waiting conditions transit riders have to put up with — continues today with the third match in the round of 16.

Last week, bus stops in Broomfield, Colorado, and St. Louis County beat out the competition from Portland, Oregon, and Kingsport, Tennessee. There are still many more miserable bus stops to shame. Here are two of them.

Boston

This stop comes to us from a reader, who writes:

It is impossible to safely walk to this bus stop. It is located on a median island surrounded by on- and off-ramps to the Mass Pike (I-90). On the other side is the 5-lane Cambridge Street, which also has no crosswalks and no curb cuts. There is no shelter from the elements & in the winter the snow from the street gets plowed onto the sidewalk & the sidewalk is never shoveled. The MBTA is responsible for the bus stop and MassDOT is responsible for the surrounding roads.

Here’s an aerial view so you really get the gist:

Agencies in charge: Massachusetts DOT, MBTA.

Nassau County

This stop is on a state highway in western Nassau, close the Queens border:

A commenter who goes by “Jason” submitted this one. He says:

This NYC MTA “bus stop” is actually located in Nassau County along Rockaway Turnpike along the Q113/Q114 route to Far Rockaway. When the route is in Nassau, no signs are posted at stops. You just have to kind of know they exist and what buses stop there. Some stops, like this one, have what is left of an old bench.

This stop is on an extremely busy and congested road with no shoulder. The bus must stop in the right lane of fast moving traffic to load & unload. Passengers must remain dangerously close to the traffic at this stop.

Agencies in charge: New York State DOT, New York MTA.

The voting will be open until midnight on Tuesday.

Here’s a map of the six bus stops in the competition so far, with today’s matchup in green. Ten more competitors will be revealed before we move on to round two.