Bus shelters go solar

From LOCAL MOTION - "Bus shelters go solar":

As part of the Eco-City initiative and efforts to cut cost, the City used a state capital grant to install two new solar-illuminated bus shelters along Mt. Vernon Avenue in December. Solar energy is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way of providing lighting to passengers waiting in shelters at night and in the early morning hours. Lighting at bus stops creates a safer environment and is an overall amenity to the bus-riding public. Additionally, lighting assists bus drivers with seeing passengers waiting at the stops.

While one of these shelters serves Arlandria at the corner of West Glebe and Mt Vernon, the solar upgrade merely replaced an existing shelter for northbound commuters. Arlandria (and Del Ray for that matter) is still seriously lacking in shelters serving southbound bus riders (there is only one shelter on the southbound portion of the Avenue).

There's still no news, however, on the much anticipated funding of additional shelters that were promised with the 2003 Arlandria Plan. The City's CIP budget still shows the $500,000 that was allocated for area improvements, but there is no prospect for it being spent anytime soon with no allocations pending over the next 5 years. Sure, the new shelters are nice, but additional shelters are surely preferable to spiffier ones.



The shelters can be found here:

• Shelter – Mt. Vernon Avenue and W. Glebe Road
  Served by: DASH AT10 Metrobus 10A, 10B, 10E
• Shelter – Mt. Vernon Avenue and E. Oxford Avenue
  Served by: DASH AT10 Metrobus 10A, 10B, 10E
• Shelter – U.S. Route 1 and E. Reed Avenue (Potomac Yard)
  Served by: Metrobus 9A, 9E
• Shelter – Jamieson Avenue and Courthouse Square
  Served by: DASH AT6, AT7
• Shelter – Ballenger Avenue and John Carlyle Street
  Served by: DASH AT6, AT7
• Canopy – Hunting Point on the Potomac (1204 S. Washington)
  Served by: DASH AT3 Metrobus 10A, 10B, 11Y
• Stop – N. Van Dorn Street and Kenmore Avenue
  Served by: DASH AT1 Metrobus 8W, 8X, 8Z
• Stop – Lincolnia Road and Quantrell Avenue (Tower 2000)
  Served by: Metrobus 7A, 7F, 7H, 7W

No rhyme or reason given as to why these were picked. No information on where the bus shelters would be most utilitzed.