America’s Sorriest Bus Stop: Silver Spring vs. New Castle

From the pathetic to the desolate, our parade of sorry bus stops continues today with the fourth match of the first round in this 16-bus-stop tournament.

Two Mid-Atlantic competitors, each bad in its own special way, face off today.

Silver Spring, Maryland

This bus stop comes to us from Dan Reed, who writes:

This one is on a busy state highway in Silver Spring, Maryland, immediately north of Washington, DC.

Metrobus (which serves this stop) should get props for having great service – buses come every few minutes during rush hour, and service runs 22 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is, if you can actually get to this bus stop, and we’ve got the Maryland State Highway Administration to blame for it. There are no sidewalks leading to it. It’s at an intersection, but there’s no crosswalk and no stoplight. And, of course, there’s a steep hill next to it. I’ve lived here my entire life and I’ve only ever seen one person waiting for the bus here. I’m pretty sure they were dropped from a plane or something.

Agency in charge: Maryland State Highway Administration.

New Castle, Delaware

Paul Moser sent us this beauty on US-40, “one of the deadliest roads in the state,” served by multiple DART routes in greater Wilmington. From the looks of it, it’s an eight-lane divided highway with no sidewalks. Appalling conditions to expect people to walk to or from.

Agencies in charge: Delaware DOT, DART.

The polls are open until Wednesday at midnight.

Here’s the map of all the contestants so far.