Arlington County, Virginia opened its first “SuperStop” bus stop in 2013, complete with heated floors, electronic display screens, and slanted pavement that allowed passengers to board a bus without stepping upwards.
It was just missing one thing: a proper roof. Passengers found themselves drenched on rainy days or shivering in the winter because the bus stop provided little shelter.
The poorly-designed bus stop cost $1 million, or $1.4 million in today’s money.
That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.
Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname “Dr. No” by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn’t stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.
Coburn’s Wastebook 2013 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth nearly $30 billion, including Arlington’s gaudy station.
Key facts: Arlington’s “SuperStop” was mostly funded with federal grant money from the Department of Transportation. Its modern-art inspired roof was made of glass and steel. The Washington Post described it as “swooping up like a bird taking flight.”
Aside from its luxury features, the bus stop was so pricey because it had to be large enough to accommodate a planned streetcar system that would run in conjunction with buses. The streetcars were cancelled in 2014 and were never built.
Arlington planned to build 23 more SuperStops, but most residents just wanted a simple bus stop that wouldn’t break the bank. The project was put on pause while the county hired a contractor to conduct a “comprehensive review” of the bus stops — at further taxpayer cost.
The SuperStops were redesigned with better roofs and more comfortable seating, and the county agreed to cut the budget in half.
It took years to finish building the bus stops, during which time the budget slowly increased again. The last SuperStop was completed in early 2026. As of this August, the county was still installing artwork in 11 of them.
Arlington ultimately spent $16 million on 24 bus stops, for a price of $667,000 each. The average price of a bus stop when construction began in 2013 was less than $20,000.
Summary: Bus routes should be designed around convenience and efficiency, not artistic and technological extravaganzas.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
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[ H/T WorldNetDaily ]
