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Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations (2012)

Chapter: Chapter 9 - Transit Access

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Transit Access." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14614.
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77 Bus (and in some cases rail) is the major alternative to driving for rapid transit riders that live more than ½ mile from rapid transit stations. It can expand the station catchment area consider- ably, particularly for riders that do not have a car. It is also an important access mode for the elderly and mobility disadvantaged. Finally, it reduces the land requirements around stations that would otherwise be required for park-and-ride. Bus access to stations generally accommodates about 25 to 35 percent of station boardings (except at outlying commuter rail stations where there is little or no service availability). Examples of feeder transit mode shares for BART and Denver RTD shown in Exhibit 9-1 and Exhibit 9-2, respectively, illustrate the importance of bus access. At major outlying transit centers, often the outermost stations, buses account for 50 to 75 percent of all station boardings: • 95th Dan Ryan, Chicago 75 percent • 79th Dan Ryan, Chicago 60 percent • Forest Hills, Boston 60 percent • Sullivan Square, Boston 53 percent The passenger transfer between bus stops and rapid transit stations should be safe and convenient, and walking distances to and from station platforms should be kept to a minimum (Exhibit 9-3). Connecting bus services should be frequent, and buses should not be overcrowded. Fare structures should not inhibit the transfer. The guidelines that follow show how these objectives can be realized. General Planning Guidelines The following guidelines will prove useful in developing the type and design of bus transit access to rapid transit stations. Additional design guidance is available in the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual (40). The type and design of the bus-to-rapid transit transfer facility will depend on the station location, the number of buses to be accommodated, pedestrian movements, and traffic engineering considerations. Key considerations include: the type of vehicles to be served (buses, electric trolleybuses, streetcars, LRT); location (on-street, off-street); service frequencies and patterns; fare collection practices; and pedestrian access to rapid transit stations. Facility Location Transfers between local bus and rapid transit service should be provided wherever the two services intersect. They are especially desirable at the outermost rapid transit stations. Passenger interchange facilities generally should be provided where the following conditions apply: 1. Rapid transit service and local bus services intersect. 2. There is a natural convergence of bus routes on approaches to the rapid transit station. C H A P T E R 9 Transit Access

78 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations Mode 1998 ModeShare (%) 2005 Targets (%) 2010 Targets (%) Walk 23.0 24.0 24.5 Bike 2.0 2.5 3.0 Transit 21.0 21.5 22.0 Drop-off, carpool, taxi 16.0 19.0 19.5 Drive alone 38.0 33.0 31.0 Source: BART Exhibit 9-1. BART system-wide access targets (AM peak period). SW Corridor 2001 (%) 2006 (%) Walk 12 28 Bicycle 2 Transit 29 29 Drop-off NA 5 Other 7 3 - Carpool 7 - Drive alone 48 35 SE Corridor 2007 (%) 25 1 21 5 3 5 40 Source: Denver RTD Exhibit 9-2. RTD system-wide access modes (Denver). Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-3. Feeder bus connections located close to station platform (Sound Transit Commuter Rail Station, Kent, WA).

Transit Access 79 3. The transfer point is located at an outlying activity center that generates its own traffic. 4. The transfer simplifies service scheduling and dependability over a direct bus routing (for example, the breaking of one long route into two shorter routes). 5. Local bus routes can be rerouted to serve (or already serve) rapid transit service. The transfer between local and rapid transit services should save at least 5 minutes to the city center, compared to a one-seat ride on a local service. It is essential to provide adequate bus access to the transfer point, including bus priority treatments where needed. Facility Type Station facility operations and layout should provide direct, convenient, and conflict-free pedestrian access between local buses and rapid transit stations. Bringing bus passengers close to station entrances should be accomplished with minimum deviations of buses from their normal routes. Both on- and off-street terminals (and stations) should allow rapid passenger interchange, facilitated bus entry to and exit from the station, and minimal increase in bus miles. The choice between on-street and off-street bus station locations also depends on where the stations are or will be located, and the character of the surrounding area. Key considerations include land use, development and street system densities, and bus route patterns and volumes. Urban stations in built-up areas will generally favor on-street provisions for new facilities and redesigning existing facilities. Suburban rapid transit stations will be conducive to off-street transfer facilities, especially when bus interchanging volumes are high. On-street Stations On-street stations may include existing streets at more-urban locations (Exhibit 9-4), or new streets that are created on transit agency property as part of a TOD project. On-street facilities are Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-4. On-street bus facility example (Oakland, CA).

80 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations the most efficient in terms of space, and they minimize route deviation that inconvenience through (non-transferring) passengers. They have lower costs and also help to create a more pedestrian- oriented sidewalk. Low volumes of buses and passengers generally can be accommodated with minimum street improvements. Off-street Stations Off-street stations are commonly provided in suburban areas where many routes converge at a single location. Sometimes the decision will reflect a trade-off between the needs of through passengers and those transferring to rapid transit. The choice of location should reflect the relative volumes of each group of passengers. Off-street provision, or a combination of on-street and off-street, may be appropriate in the following instances: • Stations where many buses must layover or wait to provide timed transfers, and there is insufficient curb space to meet this need on-street. • Stations where the entrance is set back a significant distance from the sidewalk to minimize the distance transferring passengers must walk. Terminals are sometimes located on the ground floor or along the perimeter of a parking garage. Examples include the Alewife Quincy Center and Quincy Adams garages in the Boston area. Access Objectives and Guidelines For surface transit to be a competitive access mode to rapid transit, it must provide passengers with a seamless journey. Walking distances must be short and conflict free, bus service must be frequent, and the bus and rapid transit station environment must be pleasant. Transfers should be free, where possible, and at a minimum fare collection technologies should be integrated with one another. Minimize Walking Distances This objective requires placing bus stops and station entrances close to each other, with safe and direct routes between the rapid transit platforms and the connecting bus services. Sometimes, grade-separated pedestrian access over bus stops adjacent to the station entrance should be provided where both pedestrian and bus volumes are very high. Place Bus Stops in Suitable Locations Both on-street and off-street bus stops should be placed in suitable locations that make walking routes to stations short and safe (Exhibit 9-5). • Bus stops should be located to minimize walking distances to station entrances and should avoid the need to cross roadways, particularly busy arterials. Where a roadway must be crossed, the bus stop should be located adjacent to a marked crosswalk. Passengers should not have to cross more than one major roadway. • Bus stops should be immediately visible upon exiting the rapid transit station. • Bus stops should be located where they will not block crosswalks, obstruct traffic signals, or be obscured from motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. • Everything else being equal, on-street bus stops are preferable. However, off-street facilities may be necessary to accumulate multiple routes, to serve bus layovers and transfers between bus routes, and to avoid having passengers walk through parking lots. • Buses should be able to reach off-street transfer facilities via congestion-free routes, including dedicated lanes or roadways where practical. However, buses do not need to be segregated

Transit Access 81 from other traffic when no adverse travel impacts are forecast. Sensitive transit-oriented traf- fic engineering treatments may be necessary. • Bus access should be separated from auto access when there are more than 10 to 15 peak hour buses entering or exiting the station, or where there are more than 350 parking spaces. • Bus-only access roads should have a minimum one-way width of 18 to 24 feet. The inside turning radius should be at least 30 feet. Provide Attractive Feeder Bus Service Connecting bus service must be frequent and reliable. • The bus route structure should be direct and clear. Route deviations should be avoided. • There should be minimal and predictable wait times between modes. Passengers tend to consider time spent waiting for a bus or train as more burdensome than time actually spent traveling. Providing real-time information about transit arrival times helps alleviate passenger uncertainty of bus arrivals and reduces the wait time burden. • Connecting bus services should operate at relatively frequent headways. Route headways gener- ally should not exceed 10 to 15 minutes in the peak hour, and should not exceed 12 to 20 minutes in the off-peak. • Route branching should be minimized. It is better to operate fewer services with short headways than many services with long headways. • The use of coordinated ticketing can avoid the inconvenience and cost penalties of purchasing separate tickets or fares. Provide Access Priorities at Stations Feeder transit service at stations (particularly within terminal areas) should be prioritized in order of transfer activity. • Drop-offs and boardings should be located as close as possible to station entrances. • Transit facilities for loading and unloading passengers should be located closer to the station entrance than any other vehicle mode. Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-5. Bus stops located adjacent to rail platform (University of Denver RTD Station, CO).

82 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations • The paths between passenger loading and unloading areas and the station entrance should be as short as possible. • Bus-to-bus transfers and bus-to-rapid transit transfers should be simple and facilitated by minimizing distances between bus stops. • An integrated fare system should be established to transfer seamlessly between rapid transit and feeder services. Improve the Pedestrian Environment A safe, comfortable, and convenient environment for intermodal transfers is essential. This is, perhaps, the most important component of station access, since the station area is where passengers spend a considerable amount of time. Passengers need to know where they can stand safely. Accordingly, station planning and design should provide: • Well-marked stops indicating which transit services stop at which locations. • Real-time passenger information on connecting bus and rail services. This information should be provided at bus stops and in the station itself so that passengers know if they must hurry to the bus stop. • Easily understandable maps and schedules for connecting bus and rail services at stops (Exhibit 9-6). • Weather protection, seating, lighting, and trash cans at all bus waiting areas. Bus shelters should be designed to provide continuous shelter between the bus stop and station entrance where possible. • Shelter design that enables waiting passengers to easily see oncoming vehicles. • Sufficient space in waiting areas to safely accommodate pedestrian demand. • Weather protection, possibly including radiator heaters along station platforms and in shelters in cold-climate areas. Consider Shuttle Services Shuttles provide a useful complement to regular transit service, particularly to sites such as hospitals, large employers, shopping districts, office parks, and schools. Some offer timed transfers with a limited number of peak period trains, while many circulate continuously providing random Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-6. Transit connections display (Los Angeles).

Transit Access 83 transfers. Most provide free service to eligible riders. Shuttle buses (Exhibit 9-7) are particularly common in the San Francisco Bay Area, and are growing in popularity in many rapid transit systems. Exhibit 9-8 gives examples of shuttles serving BART and CalTrain stations in San Mateo County, south of San Francisco. Example shuttle services along the east coast include: a University of Massachusetts shuttle to Boston’s Red Line; a New Haven shuttle connecting Union Station with the city center; Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-7. Private shuttle buses serving BART station (MacArthur BART Station, Oakland). Bayshore/Brisbane Commuter (Caltrain) Crocker Industrial Business Park (BART & Caltrain) Burlingame Burlingame Bayside Area (BART & Caltrain) Brisbane North Burlingame Area (BART & Caltrain) Foster City Foster City Connection Blue Line Foster City Connection Red Line Lincoln Centre (Caltrain) Mariners’ Island (Caltrain) North Foster City (BART & Caltrain) Redwood City Redwood City Climate Best Express On Demand Service Redwood City Mid Point Business Park Area (Caltrain) San Mateo Campus Drive Area (Caltrain) Mariners’ Island (Caltrain) Norfolk Area (Caltrain) South San Francisco Oyster Point Area (BART) Oyster Point Area (Caltrain) Utah-Grand Area (BART) Utah-Grand Area (Caltrain) Downtown Dasher – Midday Taxi Exhibit 9-8. Shuttles by city, San Mateo County, California.

84 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations employee-oriented shuttles in Norwalk and Stamford, Connecticut; an automated guideway transit (people mover) connection between New Jersey Transit and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and Newark International Airport; a rail shuttle serving downtown Princeton, New Jersey; and a shuttle connecting an Amtrak and commuter rail station with Baltimore–Washington International Airport. All of these shuttles serve major special purpose destinations. Exhibit 9-9 shows the free Green bus shuttle that connects New Haven’s Union Station, down- town New Haven, and remote parking lots. The free shuttle operates at 2- to 20-minute intervals from about 6:20 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The route’s cycle time is 15 minutes. It is generally preferable to serve employment destinations by regular bus services, as they have more potential to also serve other riders. Accordingly, care should be taken not to duplicate existing bus services. Effective shuttle services require partnerships between the transit agency and the shuttle service provider. Engaging the community and local employers creates the potential for mutual benefit and leverages a variety of funding sources. This can be challenging in the case of private shuttles, however, as there may not be a clear point-of-contact, and schedules and services often change without notice. See Chapter 2 for more information on improving the planning process and working collaboratively with local partners. Where parking supply is constrained, shuttle services can be used to connect auxiliary parking facilities with the rapid transit service. The bus transfer, with the additional wait and travel time, makes this an inconvenient option from a customer perspective and may impede the success of Exhibit 9-9. Green shuttle bus (New Haven, CT). Source: CT Transit

Transit Access 85 the remote facility. High-quality rapid transit service and frequent shuttle service are needed to make this strategy effective. Bus Characteristics Bus dimensions, design, and internal arrangement, coupled with operating practices, will influence the design of both on-street and off-street interchange facilities. Selected design characteristics of 40- and 45-foot buses are shown in Exhibit 9-10. Urban transit buses are normally 102 inches (8.5 feet) wide. When bus mirrors are included, the outside envelope becomes about 10 feet. Therefore, a minimum of 11-foot lanes should be used for buses. Exhibit 9-10. Design characteristics for 40- and 45-foot buses. Characteristic 40-ft Regular Bus 45-ft Regular Bus Length 40 ft 45 ft Width without mirror 8.2-8.5 ft a 8.5 ft a Height (to top of air conditioning) for design 9.9-11.5 ft b 12.5 ft c Overhang Front 7.2 ft 7.9 ft Rear 9.3 ft 9.8 ft Wheelbase (rear) 25 ft 22.9 ft Driver’s Eye Height 7 ft c 7 ft c Weight Curb Weight 27,000-28,000 lbs 38,150 lbs Gross Weight 36,900-40,000 lbs 55,200 lbs Ground to Floor Height 2.3 ft 2.3 ft Passenger Capacity Seats 45-50 50 Standees (Crush Load) 20 28 Turning Radius Inside 24.5-30 ft 24.5-30 ft Outsided 42-47 ft 42-47 ft Outside with Overhang 45.5-51 ft 45.5-51 ft Doors – Number (typical) 2 2 Width of each door 2.3-5 ft 2.5-5 ft Angles (degrees) Approach 10° 10° Breakover 10° 10° Departure 9.5° 9.5° Notes: a With mirrors envelope becomes 10 to 10.5 feet b Use 16 feet as minimum governing design clearance c Use 3.5 feet design d Add 1.5 feet where buses are equipped with bicycle racks Exact dimensions may vary by bus manufacturer Source: TCRP Project D-09 Phase II Draft Guide

86 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations The table also gives passenger seated and standing capacities for each bus type. The standing capacities represent “crush load” conditions. For schedule design purposes, the standing loads should be about 75 percent of the values cited. There is increasing use of articulated buses on heavily traveled bus routes. These buses normally are approximately 70 feet long and commonly have three sets of doors. Bus Operating Practice and Terminal Design Several bus operating practices influence transfer facility location arrangement and design. Service Patterns Buses may operate through a rapid transit station area or they may terminate there. Through- routing of buses is common at many interchange points, and is better served by on-street stops with recessed passenger loading areas. Through-routing is generally desirable where most passengers are going to other places along the bus route and are not primarily using the service to transfer to the rapid transit route. • Outlying terminals provide convenient points for breaking up long routes, especially where the terminals are break points in urban density patterns. Common practice is to reroute buses into the rapid transit stations to encourage the use of rapid transit for longer trips. Stations also can serve as the focal point of an integrated transit center. • Off-street bus loading areas (bus bays, loops, or terminals) should be provided where there are more than 12 to 15 buses terminating at a single stop and where the stop serves as a staging area for buses, or is at a rapid transit station. Terminal Types and Operations Bus terminals or transfer points may be located on-street or off-street. On-street terminals generally involve reserving curb lanes for passenger discharge and pick-up. Linear transfer areas may be located midblock or they may cover several blocks. Sometimes, recessed bus bays are provided. The bays may be contiguous to the travel lanes, or they may be physically separated. In both cases, buses operate parallel to the general traffic lanes. Shallow sawtooth bus bays are commonly used at off-street bus terminals and transfer points because they allow independent bus entry and exit. The Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual provides additional detail on bus bay design considerations and operations (40). Bus Operating Sequence Separate bus berths should be provided for alighting passengers, bus layovers, and boarding passengers. Terminating buses should be able to unload without delay, pass through a holding area where they can unload passengers if the normal berth is occupied, proceed to a layover area, and proceed to a boarding area once the layover is complete. Unloading passengers should have short, direct, conflict-free access to the rapid transit station entrance. Buses should load and unload at the same point only where bus volumes are light or where bus routes do not terminate at the station. A specific passenger loading area should be designated for each bus route or group of routes. Heavily used routes may need several berths.

Transit Access 87 Internal Bus Routing Roadways used by buses and bus berth configurations should enable buses to circulate in the direction that places the door where pedestrians are boarding. Most commonly, counter-clockwise circulation will bring passengers to external walkways near station entrances. But clockwise circulation patterns works best for center island stations. Maximum separation of pedestrians and vehicle paths should be provided. Bus access should be separated from park-and-ride access if possible (Exhibit 9-11). Bus Berth Capacity The number of bus berth positions should be based on the maximum number of buses expected to use the terminal at any given time. More specifically, berthing requirements will depend upon the number of peak hour passengers, bus dwell times, and berth turnover. Boarding and alighting times depend upon the number of available door channels, the methods of fare collection and number of passengers to be processed, and internal vehicle configurations. Current experience suggests that 20 to 30 berths are a reasonable upper limit for most urban conditions. The bus facility design should accommodate demands after the rapid transit station is opened and ridership has stabilized. The loading platform and the terminal footpaths also should accommodate anticipated future demands 25 years into the future. Transit agencies normally base berth capacities on actual operating experience. Berth requirements can be estimated in various ways: 1. They can be based on analogy-comparison of rapid transit station boarding at similar locations along the rapid transit line. 2. They can be based on the various bus capacity equations in the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual. 3. They can be based on estimates of the time requirements to board or alight from a fully loaded bus. Source: Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Exhibit 9-11. Bus circulation separated from park-and-ride circulation (Walnut Creek BART Station, CA).

88 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations Passenger service times and bus boarding times can be reduced (and berth throughout increased) by eliminating on-bus fare collections (i.e., pre-paid fares), increasing the number of door channels, and using all doors for passenger boarding or alighting during peak periods and providing bus layovers elsewhere. Bus Berth Dimensions The dimensions of bus terminal facilities depends on the number of buses served, the size of buses (e.g., 40-passenger, articulated, etc.), bus operating policy, and the bus berth design (e.g., linear or shallow sawtooth). Linear bus berths (common in on-street operations) require at least 35 to 70 feet for the bus stops plus at least 15 feet for bus maneuvering. Shallow sawtooth bays (common in terminals) require 65 to 85 feet of linear space. Exhibit 9-12 shows illustrative bus berth configurations. Exhibit 9-12. Illustrative bus berth configurations. Source: TCRP Report 90 (20)

Transit Access 89 Terminal Access And Arrangement Off-street bus transfer facilities should have direct access from surrounding arterial streets. Street widening, contraflow bus lanes, special bus turn lanes and signals, or even bus grade separations may be desirable to expedite bus flow and minimize conflicts. For example, reserved bus lanes are provided on approaches to Toronto’s Eglinton Station; a special left-turn bus lane and traffic signal is provided at Chicago’s Jefferson Park Terminal; and a trumpet interchange is provided at Toronto’s Warden Terminal. Buses enter Boston’s Quincy Adams terminal directly from an adjacent expressway. Sometimes, pedestrian overpasses carry bus passengers over arterial streets. Terminal arrangements and designs should fit the site and the surrounding street patterns. Thus, there is no “typical” bus terminal layover. The amount of bus traffic, possible points of street access, site configuration and frontage area, freeway interchange design, and topo- graphic features govern the layout of specific bus stations. Roadways used by buses should enable buses to stop as close as possible to station entrances with minimal pedestrian-bus conflicts. The objective is to locate the bus doors on the same side of the roadway as the station entrance. As a general principle, the bus platform arrangement should be as compact as possible. This may involve passenger boarding parallel to the station track alignment or perpendicular to it. The perpendicular design results in a “hairpin” configuration with pedestrian circulation on and around the perimeter of the bus platforms. Space between freeway main travel lanes and service roads can be used for bus interchanges when the rapid transit line is located in the freeway median. Initial freeway designs should provide for such facilities. For example, Chicago’s 69th and 95th Street Stations incorporated bus bridge terminals in the basic freeway design as a result of advance planning and right-of-way reservation. Terminal Design Examples Some conceptual and actual examples of bus terminals illustrate these guidelines. Arterial Street Bus–Rail Interchange An illustrative bus–rail interchange is shown in Exhibit 9-13. The most common type of rapid transit–local transit interchange involves bus turnouts on arterial streets that cross rapid transit lines. Turnouts are located adjacent to station entrance and exit points. The station entrance is located on the side of the street that allows direct pedestrian entry from the major direction of approach. An auxiliary exit can be provided on the other side of the street to minimize midblock pedestrian crossings. A median island with fence may be desirable to preclude midblock pedestrian crossings. Bus Terminal over Freeway and Rapid Transit Line An example of a bus station (the 95th/Dan Ryan terminal in Chicago, Illinois) located over a rapid transit line and freeway is shown in Exhibit 9-14. A single bus bridge in conjunction with a pair of new bus bridges adjacent to frontage roads over a depressed freeway provides direct access for buses from city streets. Buses circulate clockwise around a central express transit station. Such a design may be combined with special bus-actuated traffic signals to allow bus entry and exit from adjacent streets. The Dan Ryan bus terminal occupies a 300 foot by 200 foot envelope. The 22-berth terminal serves more than 12,000 passenger boardings each weekday.

90 Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations Source: © 2011 Google Exhibit 9-14. Example bus station located over rapid transit line (Chicago, Illinois). Source: NCHRP Report 155 (41) Exhibit 9-13. Bus-rail interchange. Major Multi-modal Terminal: Journal Square Transportation Center, Jersey City There are several examples of multi-modal transportation terminals in control areas of cities that include parking facilities, passenger distribution systems (e.g., circulators), bus terminals, and TOD. This multi-modal transportation and commercial center (Exhibit 9-15) is located at a key station along the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) rapid transit line.

Transit Access 91 It provides a vertically integrated interface among the rail, bus, and auto parking modes that incorporates a 10-story office tower and retail space. A grade-separated bus terminal and a 600-space garage service the PATH trains that run every 3 minutes during peak periods. The center, located in air rights above the PATH right-of-way, has been in operation since 1975. The entire complex is owned and operated by a public agency (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey), so it is institutionally as well as modally integrated. Subsequent to its completion, an element of public–private ownership was introduced when sections of the office tower were sold to major tenants in an office condominium arrangement. Exhibit 9-15. Journal Square Transportation Center (Jersey City, New Jersey). Source: © 2011 Google

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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 153: Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations is intended to aid in the planning, developing, and improving of access to high capacity commuter rail, heavy rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, and ferry stations. The report includes guidelines for arranging and integrating various station design elements.

The print version of TCRP Report 153 is accompanied by a CD-ROM that includes a station access planning spreadsheet tool that allows trade-off analyses among the various access modes--automobile, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit-oriented development--for different station types. The appendices to TCRP Report 153 are also available on the CD-ROM.

The items contained in the CD-ROM are also available for download below.

In 2009 TRB released TCRP Web-Only Document 44: Literature Review for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations, which describes the results of the literature review associated with the project that developed TCRP Report 153.

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