A controversy over the "million-dollar bus stop" in Arlington prompted one writer to examine the size and scale of bus stops. It's a cost consideration that can determine the choice, in some cases, between bus rapid transit and streetcars.
According to Canaan Merchant, "the general idea that 'a bus stop is a bus stop is a bus stop' is wrong." In fact, " there are several different kinds, appropriate in different times and places."
The article launches from a debate last year in Arlington over the expense of a proposed "million-dollar bus stop" along Columbia Pike. Merchant asks the question of what kind of transit facilities are appropriate—especially given the 16,000 daily bus riders the corridor gets. That total makes it the busiest bus corridor in Virginia.
"What's odd about the debate in Arlington is that everyone seems to agree Columbia Pike needs vastly improved transit, but people are outraged about the costs anyway."
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