SWUTC/15/600451-00049-1 a Synthesis
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Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No 3. Recipient's Catalog No SWUTC/15/600451-00049-1 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date December 2015 A Synthesis Report of Purpose and Need: Assessment of Event Egress for Houston’s Reliant Stadium 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Carol Abel Lewis, Ph.D., Latissha Clark, Velyjha Southern Report 600451-00049-1 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Center for Transportation Training and Research Texas Southern University 11. Contract or Grant No. 3100 Cleburne DTRT12-G-UTC06 Houston, Texas 77004 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Southwest Region University Transportation Center Texas A&M Transportation Institute Texas A&M University System 14. Sponsoring Agency Code College Station, Texas 77843-3135 15. Supplementary Notes Supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program. 16. Abstract Attendance at large arena events is increasing, as the seats are added, and ground level activities such as tailgating attract visitors not attending the game. Access is somewhat staggered as people choose their arrival times differently. However, the egress is far more concentrated with visitors largely attempting to leave simultaneously. The prevailing approach is to place police officers, who communicate via radio, at proximate exit locations. Further complicating the egress are those who arrive by public transportation and are transported by scheduled train cycles or queued buses. Once filled, users wait for the next cycle. Given advances in technology from the perspective of handheld devices and traffic management software, it is timely to reexamine protocol and strategies to determine whether an opportunity exists to facilitate or streamline egress, specifically looking at NRG Stadium in Houston. This work convened stakeholders familiar with NRG stadium in Houston, Texas to detail concepts to potentially improve egress, particularly in consideration of Super Bowl XLIX to be held at NRG in 2017. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Projecting Demand, Intercity Passenger No restrictions. This document is available to the public Volumes through NTIS: National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, Virginia 22161 19. Security Classif.(of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 32 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized A Synthesis Report of Purpose and Need: Assessment of Event Egress for Houston’s Reliant Stadium by Carol Abel Lewis, Ph.D. Professor and Director, CTTR and Latissha Clark, Assistant Researcher Velyjha Southern, Graduate Student Assistant Research Report SWUTC/15/600451-00049-1 Southwest Region University Transportation Center Center for Transportation Training and Research Texas Southern University 3100 Cleburne Houston, Texas 77004 December 2015 iv DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the information presented. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors recognize that support for this research was provided by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program to the Southwest Region University Transportation Center. CTTR appreciates the help of COMTO Summer Intern Aries Milo. vi ABSTRACT Attendance at large arena events is increasing, as the seats are added, and ground level activities such as tailgating attract visitors not attending the game. Access is somewhat staggered as people choose their arrival times differently. However, the egress is far more concentrated with visitors largely attempting to leave simultaneously. The prevailing approach is to place police officers, who communicate via radio, at proximate exit locations. Further complicating the egress are those who arrive by public transportation and are transported by scheduled train cycles or queued buses. Once filled, users wait for the next cycle. Given advances in technology from the perspective of handheld devices and traffic management software, it is timely to reexamine protocol and strategies to determine whether an opportunity exists to facilitate or streamline egress, specifically looking at Reliant Stadium in Houston. This work convened stakeholders familiar with NRG stadium in Houston, Texas to detail concepts to potentially improve egress, particularly in consideration of Super Bowl XLIX to be held at NRG in 2017. vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Access and egress from major arenas for events is often known to be congestion prone and otherwise not easily negotiated. Egress is far more concentrated than access with visitors largely attempting to leave simultaneously. The prevailing approach is to place police officers, who communicate via radio, at proximate exit locations. A review of procedures for NRG Stadium in Houston can serve as a case study to assess state-of the practice nationwide, determine the baseline existing condition for Houston and propose next steps to update and improve the visitor transportation experience, if warranted. Reports from the recent 2014 Super Bowl XLIX in New Jersey indicate that some attendees using transit waited up to 3 hours after the game ended to exit. Transit riders were asked to remain in the stadium as the train platforms were overly crowed with extremely long waits. Houston will host the 2017 Super Bowl XLIX at its NRG Stadium. The work done by others will provide a solid foundation to study potential improvements in preparation for the regular events and the Super Bowl. This work assembled key stakeholders to discuss their perspective of traffic and transportation relative to Super Bowl XLIX. The outcomes yielded a cadre of concepts that may be explored in greater depth by the transportation entities responsible for traffic and transportation for the 2017 Super Bowl. Ideas include, but are not limited to the following: Unlike the attendees of typical NRG events, the majority of Super Bowl attendees will not be local and less inclined to access the stadium by driving a personal vehicle. Good transit access is paramount; reduce light rail headway to as short as possible and consider providing a bus only access/egress lane. Use color coding to direct attendees to appropriate exits and modes and staggering pathways to manage the volume of egress from each exit point. The idea of after game tailgating was offered to stagger egress times of attendees. Must consider staffing issues and law enforcement as part of this concept. It can be expected that local traffic will be less than average Sunday as people avoid travel and hold their own Super Bowl parties. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ x Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 5 Summary of Discussion .............................................................................................................. 7 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 11 Appendixes Appendix 1. Letter of Invitation ................................................................................... 15 Appendix 2. NRG Brochure ......................................................................................... 17 Appendix 3.List of Attendees ...................................................................................... 19 Appendix 4. Power Point Presentation ........................................................................ 21 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Figures Fig. 1: NRG Park Layout ......................................................................................................2 Fig. 2: NJ Super Bowl XLIX Attendees Awaiting Public Transportation Egress .................................................................................................4 x BACKGROUND Access and egress from major arenas for events is often known to be congestion prone and otherwise not easily negotiated. Egress is far more concentrated than access with visitors largely attempting to leave simultaneously. The prevailing approach is to place police officers, who communicate via radio, at proximate exit locations. A review of procedures for