Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 22.2 Commuter parking public policy options.
Source
Reference [
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In many metropolitan areas, the number of parking spaces at park-and-ride lots
exceeds the parking supply in city centers. Parking facilities range from bus and
carpool lots of less than 100 spaces, to garages of 3,000 spaces. And some of these
facilities provide direct freeway access.
Park and ride lots for car poolers along express highways, while usually small in
scale, enable group riding to employment centers.
Park-and-ride spaces can reduce radial freeway volumes as well as downtown
street congestion by intercepting motorists in outlying areas. This results in fewer
vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) and related air quality improvements. The potential
VMT reduction of a perk-and-ride lot can be estimated by multiplying two times the
park-and-ride spaces by the distance to the city center.
22.3.1 Examples
1. Connecticut Department of Transportation
In addition to providing 17,000 spaces in 49 lots for Manhattan-bound rail com-
muters, the Connecticut Department of Transportation provides 17,600 spaces to
188 park-and-ride lots along freeways. The carpool lots reduce about 200,000
VMT daily
most in the peak hours. However, the effect of this reduction in VMT
does not necessarily reduce the freeway
—
c
demand will be attracted by the higher freeway speed made possible by the
reduction in VMT. The park-and-ride lots bene
'
s peak hour travel time as latent traf
t people accrues to (1) who switch
to carpool and save on commuting costs, (2) employers who can reduce the number
of parking spaces needed by their employees, and (3) traf
c
fl
flow at intersections
adjacent to parking facilities at the place of employment.
2. Houston TX
Houston provides several large 1,000-space parking lots along freeways for
people who carpool or ride buses. These park and ride lots have direct
ramp
connections to high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes that provide fast service to
the downtown area.
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