Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3. Minneapolis-St Paul, MN
More than 175 park-and-ride lots honeycomb the Minneapolis-St Paul metro-
politan area.
4. Boston, MA
Boston
s major park-and-ride facilities have direct access from express high-
ways (e.g., Braintree from Route 128 and Alewife from Route 2) The access is
provided
before
points of congestion or route convergence, thereby enabling the
garages to remove large numbers of vehicles from the expressways and city
streets. At the Mass Bay Transportation Authority
'
s 2,400-space Alewife transit
station garage, more than 1,000 vehicles enter the garage directly from the Route
2 Expressway during the morning rush hour
'
—
the equivalent to two lanes of
traf
c on Cambridge streets.
22.3.2 Parking Planning Guidelines
Locating, selecting, planning and designing park-and-ride facilities calls for
assessing and balancing many factors. Sites should be located where:
1. Land is available at affordable cost
2. Land is level and of suitable size and shape
3. Access is convenient from expressways and major roads
4. There is rapid and reliable transit service to the city center and other major
activity concentrations
5. The access can be provide without increasing traf
c congestion
6. Ridership potential is strong
7. Sites are secure
8. There is minimum negative environmental impact
9. The design is acceptable to the surrounding communities.
22.3.2.1 Location
Rapid transit park-and-ride facilities generally should be located at least 5
8 miles
-
from the city center. They should be placed in
advance
of points of traf
c con-
gestion (bottlenecks)
—
especially where peak period freeway speeds are less than
30
35 mph. Their location should be perceived as safe and secure by parkers,
pedestrians, and transit riders.
The park-and rode lots and garages should use land that is readily available, has
good access for auto drivers and pedestrians, and minimizes environmental impacts.
Sites that are near junctions of radial transit lines and circumferential freeways
can tap a wide catchment area. One such example is the large parking garage in
suburban Boston that is located where Route I-95/128 interchanges with the
MBTA-AMTRAK rail line.
-
