Bus riders wait in the street and atop a bus “berm” along Wisconsin Avenue NW on January 27, 2026. Image by the author.

Yesterday, my snowy morning trek along Wisconsin Avenue in DC to a time-sensitive appointment at GGWash’s bank turned into an inadvertent tour of bus stopsberms.

Over the course of a 2.5-mile round-trip walk, I saw people waiting for the bus who were standing on drifts, standing in the street, and standing in slushy intersections. And all of those (bad) options, as the verb suggests, depend on standing to be options at all.

A buried bus stop along Wisconsin Avenue NW. Image by the author.

The bus makes our region a more accessible place, including during nasty winter weather when those buses are (up to a point) able to push on through snowfall that many cars can’t. The berms, however, cancel out much of that accessibility.

The ability to move around the region right now is constrained for many residents, particularly those who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices or who are pushing strollers. That’s true not just because of unshoveled sidewalks but due to buried bus infrastructure.

“Together we are stronger,” reads this bus shelter advertisement, but the person featured would have a hard time accessing this Wisconsin Avenue NW bus stop with their wheelchair. Image by the author.

Given the frigid forecast, it could be weeks before some of these bus stops are fully usable again.

The effect might be even more pronounced on emergency routes. These roads are prioritized for plowing – but those plows pile up the snow around stops. Emergency routes are, not incidentally, also among the highest ridership bus corridors.

Buried bus stops are a problem across our region. Here, an inaccessible bus stop alongside a plowed emergency route in Montgomery County. Image by Dan Reed.

At about 6:00 am on January 27, Randy Clarke, WMATA’s general manager and CEO, posted on BlueSky about an increase in bus service and issued a plea for help with bus stop shoveling: “If you are able to help your community by clearing bus stops 🙏”

During a 2010 blizzard, volunteer brigades shoveled out bus stops. Caring neighbors are needed and appreciated when a storm brings the region to a standstill, but the one-two punch of heavy snow and several inches of sleet means these berms are strong enough to stand on, and would defy most snow shovels.

Another buried bus stop along Wisconsin Avenue NW. Image by the author.

So who is responsible for clearing out all that snow and ice? Is there a plan in place?

DC Councilmember Charles Allen is urging WMATA, the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT), and the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) to work together to clear bus stops.

Update from the bus stop 🚏 Plows have left 2–3 foot walls of snow and ice along many Ward 6 curbs, blocking access to bus stops and forcing riders to stand in the street. CM Allen is pushing WMATA, DDOT, and DPW to coordinate and clear bus stop access quickly. 👇

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— Councilmember Charles Allen (@cmcharlesallen.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 2:18 PM

We contacted DDOT to learn more about any plans in place for bus stop clearing, but as of the time of publication, we haven’t heard back. We also reached out to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation with the same questions but, similarly, haven’t yet heard back. We’ll update this post if that changes.

Another buried bus stop on Thayer Avenue in Silver Spring. Image by Dan Reed.

Roads need to get cleared. Sidewalks, too. But bus stops are also a critical component of our region’s transportation system, and the bus is a transportation mode lower-income residents and residents with disabilities disproportionately depend on.

Snow emergency plans should incorporate bus stop clearing in an intentional way, with clearly demarcated lines of responsibility.

Oh, and as for that time-sensitive bank errand? My appointment notwithstanding, the bank was closed. …It sure is disappointing when you rely on critical services only to find them inaccessible.