Mid-block bus stops are a high-risk part of the transit experience
- Rami Stucky
- May 7
- 2 min read
Dora and Meridian
This is Meridian and Dora looking west. On March 24, a 13 year old girl who lived in the neighborhood just east of Meridian was crossing Dora headed towards her home. There is no crosswalk. She made it two lanes through the southbound portion of Meridian, as well as through the center turn lane. Then, she had to cross the next two lanes of northbound road. However, there was a car in the inside lane and another car in the outside lane. The car in the outside lane hit her and the girl was assessed code red with serious injuries at Wesley Hospital.
There are several design decisions that could have prevented this crash. One of them is to install a crosswalk at this intersection. It is unclear if the girl was taking the bus, but there are two stops at Meridian and Dora for the Wichita Transit Route 14 bus: one southbound and one northbound. If residents of the nearby neighborhood want to catch the bus heading south, they will inevitably make the same crossing movement as the girl. The nearest crosswalks, either at Harry or at Pawnee, are about half a mile in either direction.
Pedestrian-vehicle crashes at mid-block bus stops like this are more severe than at intersections due to lack of pedestrian facilities, notes researchers studying the Adelaide metropolitan area. Researchers associated with the Center for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety similarly showed that “midblock stops are especially high-risk” part of a transit-users journey. And the Federal Transit Administration certainly agrees, stating that midblock bus stops “encourages patrons to cross the street at the mid block … and increases walking distance for patrons crossing at intersections.”
Introducing a crosswalk here, or at the hundreds of other midblock bus stops in Wichita, would be a welcome addition to this intersection.
Check back in to hear more about mid-block bus stops and as always, Look, See, and Save.
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