The Mystery of the Backwards Bus Stop
Posted: August 17th, 2007 | Author: admin | Filed under: blogservations | 10 Comments »
IÕll skip the part about this whole story possibly not being worth sharing.
This blog is called Get Closer and it’s all about getting closer to the people who matter most to your business. Anyway, right down the street from the Rassak offices in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood is a bus stop that, well, could use a little help getting closer.
Here’s what I mean. Visual A shows a normal bus stop. Note how its open to the street. Waiters-for-buses keep nice and dry and out of the wind and when the bus arrives they simply step out of the shelter and onto the bus. Perfect.
VISUAL A
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Visual B shows one of the mysterious backwards bus stops near our offices.
VISUAL B
Being a frequent and humble/proud rider of San Francisco’s "Muni" buses, I’ve seen enough bus stops to know that backwards ones are a rare exception. I’ve also seen enough fellow Muni-riders to know that in the state many of them are in, that’s a good thing.
See Visual C. Many riders might sit all day never knowing their bus has come—-many times over.
VISUAL C
Visual D demonstrates how that those who see their bus might never know how to get through the glass to the bus.
VISUAL D
Why? Do you have any idea why? Please give me your theory by leaving a comment.
It could all be a set up by Totally Hidden Video.
It could be that the dudes who were hired to put up the shelters were given all the pieces, instructions, and a drawing or even a photo of how the finished structure should look They followed the directions perfectly but the instructions didn’t say anything about which way to point the shelter. I can relate and have sympathy having assembled my share of IKEA products.
I want more ideas. Oh, and this isnÕt a contest to see who can turn in the wackiest story about how someone was struck by lighting or how some movers left a giant mirror leaning on the building in front of the stop or any other complex chain of quirky events that led to this mistake. No. I really want to know why the HELL these things got set up backwards!
Come to think of it, wacky chains of events are also welcome. DonÕt let me take this too seriously.
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I think someone did a mistake when installing it…
That’s the problem when public transportation is reduced to a minimum…
In Europe that would be impossible :-)
Regards from Spain,
Paquito.
http://paquito4ever.blogspot.com
Assuming for a moment it wasn’t a mistake. The only logical reason I can think of for positioning the bus stop like that would be if the wind in the area usually blows in a way that it would always hit inside the bus stop if it was facing the street. Now that said, if I was designing a bus stop that for whatever reason faced away from the street, I’d stick a door in the back of it.
Come on isn’t it obvious, Muni is trying to keep SFers fit by making us walk around the bus stop to catch our bus. This is an ingenious plan and Mayor Newsome as well as the brain trust at Muni HQ should be applauded.
I’ve read this article quite a few times and, last night, at last, I had a dream about it. Being aware that a "dream" would give me the right, final, definitive comment about the blurry meaning and/or origins of the far out structure, and being aware that I’m Chubby Chase and you’re not, I’ll share it with you:
(In my dream) everything but me moved and was backwards, so I ended up assuming it was me the "backwards" one but, hell, no. I finally run into this (famliar) bus stop and, what the, there was this Vonnegut’s "Slaughterhouse Five" book on a seat. I’m Chubby Chase and you’re not, I said, and suddenly a bomb attack disturbed my nocturnal bliss. So, once at this point, it’s quite obvious that I’d better go back to bed again, I said. Now you have the answer and tomorrow I must get up early and fix another quirky mistake I made when installing another bus stop in Colorado and post my comment and… I’m gonna get sacked. Seeya!
You’re not.
I think you might be on to something with the misassembly theory but MAYBE the road is sunk in such a way there as to cause a "splash hazard" where bus riders would invariably be hit with a wave of water when it was raining were it not for the reverse orientation? I’m not sure how much rain your parts see…
Simple. You all have to re-think the concept. The bus stop is installed the opposite way, not to prevent people from getting into the bus, but to prevent people from leaving the bus. This bus station is a NO EXIT station.
I am thinking that maybe this particular bus stop is in a valley where, when it rains water might collect. So… when there would be a lot of water in front of the stop, passing cars would drown the people waiting for the bus. It serves as a barrier. I also think the wind idea makes sense. Good thing the city put up those lines on the glass to warn riders not to walk into it… otherwise thwy’s be dropping like sparrows to a bay window.
It’s all about the cookies and milk. The glass faces the street to act as a barrier to exhaust fumes from passing vehicles. How are you supposed to smell a scented ad if you’re choking on exhaust fumes?
there doesnt seem to be one good reason to have backwards bus stops. thinking….
is there a falafel place right in front of it? could be falafel lobbyists paying off city planners to attract direct attention to their business. something like that.
ADA codes require that shelters are wheelchair accessible. On sites where the sidewalk is narrow, the "backwards" shelter allows the current design to accommodate wheelchair access from the back–that is the reason, not any of the other suggestions.
Keep an eye out for the new designs, which will hit the streets in early 2009–they have one back panel removed to always provide wheelchair access from behind and from the curb side.