"In the end, the new stop cost $575,000 for construction and fabrication and $440,000 for construction management and inspections...federal and state transportation money paid 80 percent of the costs," reports Patricia Sullivan on a new bus stop in Arlington, Virginia.
Designed to accommodate up to 15 people and two buses, the stop is a prototype for 23 subsequent stops that has come under severe criticism for its price tag. Officials and passengers have called it too flashy and a poor shelter from the elements.
Arlington's Transportation Director Dennis Leach has defended the project, comparing it to "high-capacity bus or rail stops."
Sixteen-thousand people use the transport route the stop is located on daily, and dense housing developments and a 4.5-mile streetcar route are planned alongside it for the next 20 years.
