Adopt-a-Stop/Adopt-a-Shelter
Tuesday, May 01, 2007 5:29 PM
Tired of seeing crumpled cups and overflowing trash at the METRO bus stop in your neighborhood?
Adopt a bus stop - and help us keep our neighborhoods litter-free.
METRO's Adopt-a-Stop/Adopt-a-Shelter program is seeking more volunteers who will agree to keep the agency's nearly 12,000 bus stops and 1,980 bus shelters clean.
"Approximately 100 bus shelters have been adopted," said Lt. Joe Rendon, a METRO police officer. "It would be nice if all our bus shelters and stops were adopted. These volunteers are our ears and eyes for something that's going down."
Here's what you get when you sign up as a volunteer to adopt a stop or shelter:
five round-trip bus tickets every month, free trash bags, an Adopt-a-Stop sign recognizing your neighborhood or organization attached to the trash container, and an official "adoption certificate" signed by METRO's president/CEO, Frank Wilson, and METRO's chief of police, Thomas Lambert.
Transit agencies nationwide have Adopt-a-Stop programs and discovered they have effectively reduced trash around the stops. In Portland, volunteers have adopted about 1,000 stops, reducing trash by more than 80 percent.
King County Metro Transit in the Seattle area encourages adoption by offering 20 free bus passes per month.
Individuals, corporations, or civic groups can adopt a stop or shelter. Irene Torres and her two daughters adopted a stop as a gesture of gratitude. Her 16-year-old daughter has had a dozen operations on her leg - and METRO was the sole source of transportation to and from the hospital and doctor's office. To the left is a photo of the Torres family and the shelter they adopted.
"I'm just thankful that the buses have been so accessible and that METRO personnel have always been helpful," said Torres, whose family has adopted the bus shelter near their apartment.
Some volunteers plant flowers and do a little landscaping around the shelter. In addition to keeping the area clean, METRO asks that volunteers report any vandalism or criminal activity.
"People do it because they want to make sure that the bus stop looks good," said Rendon. "They don't want dirty bus shelters or dirty bus stops. If it's sitting next to their house, they want to make sure it's clean."
To sign up, e-mail Phyllis Estes at pe01@ridemetro.org or call her at 713/615.6339.