Stop-by-Stop Audit Program

Why this project

“The transit system is broken” is rhetoric. “The shelter at Maryland and Tropicana eastbound has no shade, no lighting, and a sidewalk that ends two hundred feet from the stop” is a fact that can be fixed. The Stop-by-Stop Audit Program produces facts.

Modeled on the accountability work transit advocates have run in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and San Francisco, this program rotates through named stops and corridors. We measure what’s there. We score it. We photograph it. We publish the result with a named owner — the agency or jurisdiction that can fix the specific problem. And when something gets fixed, we document the before-and-after. The point isn’t to embarrass; it’s to make repair legible.

Approach

• Develop a public scoring rubric (shelter, shade, lighting, sidewalk approach, ADA, frequency, posted info) and publish it so every score is auditable
• Rotate through corridors, not random stops, so geographic coverage adds up to a story
• Pair every audit with the responsible jurisdiction’s contact and the relevant agenda item if one exists
• Republish before-and-after when a fix happens; credit the agency publicly
• Coordinate fieldwork with Youth Corps fellows and Riders’ Council members where useful