New Pike Bus Shelter Installed at 1.25 Percent of Super Stop Cost

A new bus shelter has been installed on Columbia Pike at the corner of S. Barton Street.

The shelter was installed Aug. 22 and replaced the previous structure, which was removed by WMATA Aug. 1. The shelter is only a temporary replacement until a long-term “Super Stop” is installed at the location, according to Arlington Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Laura G. Smith,

“The old shelter was removed because the sidewall panel was missing and the structure itself was rusting,” Smith wrote in an email. “The deteriorated condition is due to age of the shelter (at least 20 years), which is well beyond its useful life.”

Smith said the new shelter is only temporary because it cannot serve multiple buses at one time and does not have real-time passenger information. Nearly a dozen bus lines service the stop.

“With 300+ average daily boardings at this bus stop, the new shelter has a very limited waiting area and does not meet maximum passenger demand, especially during peak hours,” she said.

The cost to install the bus shelter was about $12,500, according to Smith, or 1.25 percent of the $1 million Walter Reed Super Stop. Barton Street is one of the 23 locations where future Super Stops are planned, but the whole project is under review following the controversy surrounding the cost of the first Super Stop, which drew national media attention.

“The permanent transit station is on hold while the county conducts the community consultation, technical design and financial/performance assessment portions of the Columbia Pike Super Stop Review,” Smith said.