Commuters wait for a bus at the newly opened Walter Reed Super Stop. Photo by Roshan Ghimire
Within a month of the opening of the first of 24 Columbia Pike Super Stops at Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive, Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan halted the planned construction of the 23 remaining Super Stops following an outcry about the cost.
Super Stops are larger bus stops designed to improve the commute for bus riders. The newly opened Super Stop can shelter 10 to 15 passengers with seating. It is equipped with the real time electronic and printed schedule information; maps for bus routes and a floor embedded with a heating system for the cold weather. It cost taxpayers $1 million to design and build this Super Stop.
In an announcement on Friday, March 29, Donnellan said: “Super Stops are a key long- term transit investment for our county. They are integral to our efforts to transform Columbia Pike to a more transit- oriented Main Street … We have an obligation to the taxpayers of Arlington, The Commonwealth and the nation to ensure that our infrastructure projects are delivered in a timely, cost effective manner. We will do better.”