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Home , Braintree Split, Central Artery, Interstate 93

3 CURRENT TRANSPORTATION

3.1 HIGHWAYS 7,000 6,500 10,000 7,000 10,000 7,000 FIGURE 4 3.1.1 Highway System Average Weekday Traffic Volumes

93 The area’s thoroughfares that carry most of the commuter traffic 84,000 81,000 88,500 87,000 through the area are: 92,000 93,000 9,000 N 8,000 10,000 9,000 10,000 · I-93 (from Route 24) 10,000 · The Southeast Expressway · Route 3 South

92,000 90,000 97,000 97,000 The Highway Department has jurisdiction over these 102,000 103,000 major highways, their interchanges, and arterial road segments near 0 HOV Volumes HOV Volumes 0 3,500 4,000 the interchanges. 5,000 4,000

92,000 90,000 Freeway facilities are composed of connected segments consisting 101,000 101,000 107,000 107,000 of the freeway itself, ramps, and weaving segments. These segments NC are connected in various sequences and there are significant NC interactions between them that sometimes create a bottleneck that 34,000 8,000 NC reduces the capacity of the freeway to that of the bottleneck. 9,000 NC 10,000 93 16,000 82,000 92,000 97,000 NC Presently, the Southeast Expressway has four travel lanes in each NC 35,000 NC direction. During the AM peak period (6:00–10:00 AM), the leftmost 36,000 28,000 21,000 29,000 64,000 38,000 30,000 21,000 30,000 NC 68,000 4,000 southbound lane is operated as an HOV lane for traffic moving 40,000 35,000 22,000 32,000 75,000 43,000 11,000 northbound. The situation is reversed during the PM peak period 46,000 13,000 50,000 13,000 (3:00–7:00 PM), when the leftmost northbound lane is operated as 3 49,000 55,000 an HOV lane for traffic moving southbound. Thus, during each peak 57,000 period, the peak direction has five travel lanes serving traffic—four 37 49,000 51,000 66,000 NC general purpose lanes and one HOV lane. NC NC 57,000 69,000 NC NC 75,000 15,000 NC 18,000 5,000 30,000 12,500 98,000 29,000 11,000 15,500 13,000 106,000 37,000 30,000 13,000 Route 3 South has three travel lanes in each direction from 30,000 33,000 16,000 14,000 114,000 6,000 39,000 35,000 13,000 15,000 7,000 40,000 interchange16 (Route 18) to the split. South of Route 18, there are 10,000 53,000 NC 53,000 NC two lanes in each direction, but during the peak period of travel, 46,000 58,000 24,000 20,000 99,000 54,000 23,000 traffic is allowed to use the /breakdown lane in the peak 107,000 57,000 23,000 115,000 direction as a travel lane. Use of the shoulder/breakdown lane as a 10,500 101,000 11,000 travel lane is restricted to the segment with two lanes. There is no 109,000 12,000 3 115,000 93 HOV lane on Route 3 South. 2,500 3,000 3,000 37 77,000 75,000 1992 33,333 82,000 81,000 The stretch of I-93 between the split and Route 24 has four travel 15,000 88,000 88,000 16,000 1999 33,333 lanes in each direction. This stretch has no HOV lane and traffic is 15,000 2003 33,333 not allowed to use the shoulder/breakdown lane as a travel lane. Not Counted NC 101,000 109,000 115,000 The following section describes the traffic volumes at the split and The HOV lane became the connecting highways. operational in 1995.

10 3.1.2 Traffic Volumes 400 93 400 300 FIGURE 5 Several kinds of data were collected for quantifying and evaluating 250 300 450 2003 AM Peak Period: Balanced Traffic Volumes 600 existing traffic conditions. As part of this study, MassHighway 400 3,300 6,500 4,750 5,800 conducted Automatic Traffic Recorder (ATR) counts in 2003 for 4,800 5,500 5,600 4,400 300 I-93, the Southeast Expressway, and Route 3 South. These counts 600 N 800 are summarized, along with those collected in 1992 and 1999, in 600 400 550 Figure 4 (see page 10). 600 400 Between 1992 and 2003, average weekday traffic on the I-93 3,700 6,800 5,300 6,400 segment between Routes 24 and 37 increased by 14 percent; on 5,400 6,300 6,200 Route 3 South by 15 percent; and on the Southeast Expressway by 4,800 1,200 HOV Volumes 1,400 18 percent. These increases represent a rate of about 1.2 to 1.3 1,000 percent per year. The AM and PM peak-period traffic volumes 600 presented in Figures 5 and 6 indicate that during the peak periods, 3,700 8,000 traffic volumes in the peak direction of travel remain essentially 5,300 7,800 5,400 7,300 4,800 6,800 constant or decrease slightly, due to traffic congestion and capacity 1,000 1,600 700 1,550 restrictions. Thus, the observed growth in traffic over the 11-year 900 1,400 800 period is manifested partly by the expansion of the number of hours 600 7,300 2,300 700 of congestion and partly by the growth of the off-peak period traffic 6,900 2,300 950 6,500 2,100 900 volumes. 93 6,200 2,100 700 1,750 3,600 2,000 3,300 3,100 1,300 2,700 5,900 3,500 At the uncongested sections of the freeways, the peak hour volumes 2,800 1,800 2,400 5,400 2,000 200 2,800 1,600 1,700 4,900 500 1,100 4,700 500 range from 1,900 to 2,200 vehicles per hour per lane. At the 250 1,500 700 bottlenecks, where queuing, weaving, merging, and diverging 2,300 1,200 2,400 1,300 activities take place, peak hour volumes are in the range of 1,100 to 2,200 800 2,200 1,600 vehicles per hour. 3,000 3,000 37 2,600 3,600 3.1.3 HOV Lane Traffic Volumes 4,100 3,700 2,400 850 3,200 3,300 1,600 650 50 5,800 1,500 3,600 1,700 250 1,200 2,600 3,400 1,000 150 The Southeast Expressway HOV lane opened in 1995 as one of the 400 400 7,100 950 900 500 6,700 1,600 2,600 150 700 600 850 200 500 600 5,800 1,800 1,800 500 mitigation projects for the / project. Since then, 800 300 1,200 1,700 500 800 600 2,400 1,700 700 entry has been limited to carpools, vanpools, and buses. The 3,600 600 1,800 1,150 500 3,700 3,800 1,700 1,050 operating policy for the HOV lane has changed over the years; first 6,100 3,800 3,000 1,200 1,050 7,400 3,700 2,000 7,500 3,600 2,000 400 6,600 the entry rule was three or more occupants per vehicle; after that 700 1,300 600 there was a sticker program (red and green) that allowed certain 500 3 93 numbers of vehicles with two-person occupancy to enter the HOV 5,800 7,200 lane on alternate days. This was later expanded to allow all vehicles 6,500 50 5,500 100 37 100 6-7 AM 55,555 with stickers to use the HOV lane on all days. Presently, any vehicle 100 2,650 6,600 3,800 6,600 with two or more occupants meets the entry requirements for the 650 7-8 AM 55,555 4,100 6,200 1,000 3,900 5,500 1,300 8-9 AM 55,555 HOV lane. 1,100

6,300 9-10 AM 55,555 7,800 The three-or-more occupancy rule, which was introduced in 1996, 8,100 resulted in maximum volumes of 375 and 400 vehicles per hour for 7,100 the AM and PM peak periods, respectively. With the introduction of

11 the two-person-occupancy sticker program in 1998, these volumes 1,150 400 1,200 450 increased to a maximum of 550 and 525 vehicles per hour for the AM 1,100 600 FIGURE 6 1,000 400 and PM peak periods, respectively. In February 1999, when the two- 2003 PM Peak Period: Balanced Traffic Volumes person-occupancy sticker program was expanded to all days, the 93 5,100 maximum volumes increased to 825 vehicles per hour during the AM 5,550 4,650 4,600 4,800 4,200 4,500 peak period, and 550 during the PM peak period. In June 1999, when 5,200 N 3 700 the HOV lane was opened to all vehicles with two or more occupants, 750 850 800 1,000 650 with no sticker required, the lane use increased to 1,300 vehicles per 1,100 hour during the AM peak period and 1,000 during the PM peak period. 900 Presently, the volumes in the HOV lane typically do not exceed 6,400 5,800 1,300–1,400 vehicles per hour either northbound during the AM peak 5,600 5,400 5,300 5,600 period or southbound during the PM peak period. 6,100 5,150

1,300 1,300 HOV Volumes 1,300 3.1.4 Traffic Queues 900

7,700 5,800 Traffic queues are common in the study area, especially in the peak 6,900 5,400 6,600 5,600 7,000 5,150 directions. 2,750 600 3,400 600 3,800 600 3,200 On the Southeast Expressway, the queue extends from 8 450 5,200 2,200 1,200 () northward to interchange 15 (Columbia 4,800 2,000 1,300 Bottleneck with traffic flow rate of 93 5,000 1,900 1,300 Road) in the northbound direction during the AM peak period, and 4,700 1,600 1,200 1,400 vehicles per hour per lane. 1,800 2,100 2,100 1,800 from interchange 11 (Granite Avenue) southward to the Braintree split 1,900 1,500 2,100 4,300 1,800 2,000 1,500 2,000 3,900 1,550 200 in the southbound direction during the PM peak period. 1,800 1,400 1,850 3,900 200 1,400 3,400 200 200 3,900 800 3,500 800 On Route 3 South, the AM northbound queue extends from 3,400 750 3,500 3 600 interchange 15 (Derby Street) northward to interchange 18 (Burgin 3,800 3,400 Parkway/MBTA ). The PM southbound queue is 3,200 37 3,500 limited to the stretch of Route 3 South between interchange 17 (Union 3,700 3,500 Street) and the split. This PM southbound queue on Route 3 South also 3,300 5,500 800 5,000 3,000 800 1,500 spills back onto I-93 (described below) and onto the Southeast 2,300 4,800 850 400 7,500 2,400 5,000 1,600 600 1,150 6,900 2,400 750 1,650 1,500 800 2,300 2,500 800 Expressway (described above). 1,300 750 6,500 2,200 1,550 600 1,700 1,250 6,500 800 3,100 2,300 1,400 750 800 2,300 1,400 800 3,900 2,700 1,100 800 2,600 1,900 3,900 800 2,200 3,100 3,900 2,700 On the I-93 segment between the split and Route 24, there are traffic 7,000 1,500 2,450 6,800 2,900 3,800 2,150 3,000 1,600 queues in both peak directions, but primarily in the northbound 6,900 1,700 850 6,700 2,900 700 1,500 direction during the AM peak period and in the southbound direction 700 700 8,000 3 during the PM peak period. 7,400 93 Bottleneck with traffic flow rate of 7,200 6,800 250 1,600 vehicles per hour per lane. 250 300 37 6,600 5,100 3.1.5 Levels of Service 200 6,500 4,700 3-4 PM 55,555 6,500 4,650 1,000 6,400 4,000 1,050 To rate the performance of highway system elements, traffic planners 1,000 4-5 PM 55,555 1,000 and engineers use the concept of level of service (LOS). There are six 6,900 5-6 PM 55,555 6,900 levels of service: LOS A through LOS F. The range of LOS A through 6,900 6-7 PM 55,555 6,800 LOS D is considered acceptable; LOS E and LOS F are considered unacceptable—the facility is either at capacity or unable to handle traffic demands. For the different elements of a highway system, 12 different measures of performance are used to assess level of service. For intersections (both signalized and unsignalized), the performance FIGURE 7 measure is delay; for arterial segments, it is travel speed; for freeway 2003 AM and PM Peak Period Levels of Service facilities, it is the density of vehicles, which is defined as the number of vehicles per lane-mile. SE Expressway SB Ramp

C (F) B (F)

2 Furnace Brook The computer simulation program CORSIM, in conjunction with Pkwy. 3 4 93 Highway Capacity Software (HCS) and Synchro, were used to Willard St. C y SE ExpresswayD (F) e NB Ramp n w

t k determine the levels of service of the ramp-arterial junctions. The r Willard St.B (F) e P S results, which are presented in Figure 7, indicate the following levels n t i . g of service. r u F (F) F (F) D (E) B D (C) B (F) Burgin Parkway

Furnace Brook Parkway Interchange D (E) D (E) Centre St

Ramps F (D) The Furnace Brook Parkway interchange operates satisfactorily during F (D) the AM peak period, at LOS C or better. However, during the PM peak period, it operates at LOS F, due to the high volume of southbound traffic exiting and entering the freeway at this location. Ramp traffic

Route 37 queues are not uncommon during this period. D (E) A (D) A (F) B (E) I-93/Route 37 Interchange North St.

B (E) I-93 SB Off-ramp C (D) D (D) Route 37 37 At the I-93/Route 37 interchange, the west side ramp-arterial junction A (F) operates at LOS D or better during the AM peak period. During the PM peak period, it operates at LOS E or F, due to the presence of commuter and shopping trips occurring at the same time in the area. Ramp traffic queues are not uncommon during the PM peak period.

The east-side ramp-arterial junction operates at LOS C or better during the AM peak period. During the PM peak period, it operates at LOS E 3 37 AM (PM) or F. During both peak periods, the northbound off-ramp to Granite 93 Street experiences traffic queues that on some occasions spill back onto the freeway. Route 37

C (F) Route 3/Union Street Interchange A (A) F (F) F

A (A) Ramp SB 3 Rte C (B) F (F) Union St. The Union Street interchange operates at LOS F during the AM and Route 37 Forbes Rd. A (C) Union St. PM peak periods. During the AM peak period, the high volume of D (F) C (C) northbound on-ramp traffic causes backups into the rotary, affecting

F (F) F Rte 3 NB Ramp NB 3 Rte 2 Federal Highway Administration, CORSIM User’s Guide Version 5.1, McLean, Union St Virginia, February 2003. 3 McTrans Center, University of Florida, Highway Capacity Software (HCS), Gainsville, Florida, 2003. Union St 4 Trafficware Corporation, Synchro plus SimTraffic 6, Traffic Signal Timing, Capacity, and Simulation, Albany, California, May 2004. 13 its traffic operations, especially Union Street westbound traffic and traffic going to the MBTA Braintree Station. In the PM peak period, FIGURE 8 the high volume of southbound traffic causes ramp traffic queues that 2003 AM Peak Hour Travel Times N extend onto the freeway.

Burgin Parkway/Centre Street Intersection

At the Burgin Parkway/Centre Street intersection, both the AM and 93 PM peak-period LOS is F for the major traffic movements. During the AM peak period, the high volume of northbound left-turning traffic going to the Crown Colony Office Park and the high volume of 20 min southbound traffic on Burgin Parkway are the main causes of 7 min congestion. During the PM peak period, the cause of congestion is the high southbound traffic volumes from the Crown Colony Office Park Braintree split and Burgin Parkway. A police detail assists in controlling traffic during (2-3 min) peak periods.

3.1.6 Travel Time

3 min A travel-time survey was conducted to determine the average travel times and speeds on the major highways in the study area. Each route 93 20 min 3 min was surveyed during the AM and PM peak periods over several weeks 95 in May 2003. The results of the travel-time survey, expressed in terms 9 min of speed, are shown in Figures 8 and 9. The results reveal several interesting characteristics, as described below.

AM Peak-Period Travel Times

Average travel speeds at the Braintree split itself during peak periods are mostly between 30 and 44 mph in either direction. On the average, 3 it takes about 3 minutes to travel northbound from either interchange 6 Average Speed (Route 37) on I-93 or from interchange 19 (MBTA Quincy Adams 24 (mph) Station/Burgin Parkway) on Route 3 South to the start of the HOV lane on the Expressway. The high traffic volumes and the weaving and 1-29 merging activities at the split are the main reasons for low speeds. 30-44 On northbound Route 3 South, it takes about 20 minutes to travel the 44-49 8.6-mile stretch of highway from interchange 14 (Route 228) at the Rockland/Hingham town line to interchange 19 (MBTA Quincy 50-54 Adams Station/Burgin Parkway), resulting in an average travel speed of 26 mph on this stretch of highway. It takes about 9 minutes to travel 55-59 the same distance in the southbound direction, with average travel 60+ speeds of 60 mph or more.

14 On the Southeast Expressway northbound, it takes about 20 minutes, using the general purpose lanes, to travel the 5.5-mile stretch of the FIGURE 9 Expressway from the start of the HOV lane to Columbia Road, 2003 PM Peak Hour Travel Times N compared to 7 minutes using the HOV lane. In the southbound direction, it takes 7 minutes to travel this same distance at speeds between 55 and 60 mph.

On the 3.0-mile stretch of I-93 from Route 24 in Randolph to 93 interchange 6 (Granite Street) in Braintree, it takes about 3 minutes to travel this distance in either direction. Average travel speeds in both directions on this stretch of I-93 are 60 mph or more. 9 min

11 min PM Peak-Period Travel Times Braintree split Average travel speeds at the Braintree split itself are mostly between (2-3 min) 30 and 44 mph in either direction. It takes about 3 minutes on the average to travel southbound from the end of the HOV lane on the Expressway to either interchange 6 (Route 37) on I-93 or to interchange 19 (MBTA Quincy Adams Station/Burgin Parkway) on Route 3 South. Again, the high traffic volumes and the weaving and 6 min merging activities at the split are the main reasons for low speeds. 93 7 min 3 min 95 On southbound Route 3 South, it takes about 10 minutes to travel the 10 min 8.6 miles from interchange 19 (MBTA Quincy Adams Station/Burgin Parkway) to interchange 14 (Route 228) at the Rockland/Hingham town line. This results in an average travel speed of 52 mph on this stretch of highway. It takes 7 minutes to travel the same distance in the northbound direction, with average travel speeds of 60 mph or more.

On the Expressway southbound, it takes about 11 minutes to travel 3 the 5.5 miles between Columbia Road and the end of the HOV lane, Average Speed compared to about 7 minutes using the HOV lane. In the northbound 24 (mph) direction, it takes 9 munites to travel the same distance, at speeds between 55 and 60 mph. 1-29 30-44 On the 3.0-mile stretch of I-93 between interchange 6 (Granite Street) and interchange 4 (Route 24), it takes about 6 minutes to 44-49 travel this distance in the southbound direction, with average travel speeds of about 35 mph, and 3 minutes in the northbound direction, 50-54 with average travel speed of about 60 mph or more. 55-59 60+

15 acceleration/deceleration distances. locations are congestion, weaving and merging operations, and short crashes, some of the reasons for high number crashes at these was not performed to determine the characteristics of individual area are on the top 1,000 high-crash list. Although collision analysis high-crash locations in Massachusetts. Many the study Figure 10 shows the number of crashes and ranks top 1,000 same rank, which created a range of rankings from 1 to 282. assigned, regardless of how many other locations might have that locations. For the recent edition, actual rank for each location was of 1 to 1,000, with lower numbers corresponding the worst rank value, but rather were arbitrarily assigned consecutive rankings with the same weighted average score were not assigned methodology used for establishing the rank. In past editions, locations personal injury = 5, and fatality 10. Previous editions differed in the to least severe, using the following scores: property damage = 1, used to determine the rankings. Crash severity is weighted, from most A weighted scoring system, based on the severity of each crash, is 1997–1999 edition, which was used for this study, is the most recent. weighted scoring system to develop the high-crash location list. The Locations, list those locations in a report entitled locations, with lower numbers representing the worst locations. They improvement projects. MassHighway uses the data to rank high-crash however, is to provide the foundation for developing safety Vehicles (RMV) for a number of uses. The primary function, MassHighway uses crash data collected by the Registry of Motor 3.1.7 Crashes 16 which is published periodically. MassHighway uses a Top 1000 High Crash 24 8 UNYWLADS.ITRTT 3 5 3 2 143 194 202 298 552 0 555 1 0 845 0 0 22 29 0 668 33 29 39 43 84 0 57 83 132 87 55 69 0 133 120 86 CENTRE ST. 180 126 216 WASHINGTON ST. 108 GRANITE ST. INTERSTATE 93 UNION ST ROTARY 207 128 WILLARD ST. 313 BURGIN PKWY. INTERSTATE 93 FORBES RD. 236 QUINCY ROUTE 3 INTERSTATE 93 QUINCY ROUTE 3 FURNACE BROOK PKWY. BRAINTREE ROUTE 3 280 BRAINTREE 183 BRAINTREE GRANITE ST. 172 BRAINTREE 98 QUINCY BRAINTREE 36 34 19 8 RANK CITY/T OWN STREET

Granite St. Granite at I-93 at (Based on 1997–1999 crash data) 93 High-Crash Locations NESCIG TTL RPRYWEIGHTED PROPERTY TOTAL STREET INTERSECTING FIGURE 10 313 8

Route 3 Route at I-93 at 666 Rank 555 Total crashes 37 CRASHES DAMAGE 216 36 172 86 37 93 236 19

Forbes Rd. at Rd. Forbes Granite St. Granite

I-93 at Furnace at I-93 Brook Pkwy. Brook INJURIES

Route 3 at 3 Route Union St. Union 180 F 69 A T ALITY

Burgin Pkwy. Burgin at Centre St. Centre at 126 98 207 34

Route 3 at 3 Route Washington St. Washington A 3 VERAGE N 3.2 TRANSIT FIGURE 11 3.2.1 Bus MBTA Bus Service in the Study Area Both public and private bus carriers serve the study area. The MBTA N 200-series buses serve the project area with both local and commuter bus service (Figure 11). Quincy Center station is the main bus terminal where riders can continue on a bus or use the Red Line or to travel to downtown . The MBTA reviews its bus operations periodically and makes changes through its Service Delivery Policy. Recently, the Preliminary 2004 Service Plan indicated that many of its 200-series buses failed in service frequency or adherence standards. The MBTA has proposed modifications to enhance service on some of the bus routes, as discussed in Chapter 6, Planned and Proposed Improvements.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) operates the Logan Express bus service that goes directly from Braintree to Logan International Airport every half hour. All of the trips bypass by using the HOV lane and the . Currently, Paul Revere Transportation, a private carrier, operates the service under a contract to Massport.

The private bus carriers serving southeastern Massachusetts communities are the Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company, Peter Pan/Bonanza Bus Lines, Bloom Bus Lines, JBL Bus Lines, and DATTCO. The Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company operates the Logan Direct bus service to Logan International Airport from Plymouth, Rockland, and . In addition, it operates Boston commuter and South Shore bus services for Cape Cod and South Shore communities. Peter Pan/Bonanza Bus Lines provides service to Southern Massachusetts and from Logan Airport and from in Boston. It operates the Providence–Foxboro– Boston–Logan Airport, Woods Hole–Boston, and Newport–Fall River–Boston bus services. Bloom Bus Lines operates service between Boston, Taunton, Raynham, Easton, and Bus route and 215 West Bridgewater. JBL Bus Lines runs commuter services to Boston from Whitman and feeder service to Braintree Station from South 215 Route variation Weymouth. DATTCO runs service from Fairhaven, New Bedford, and Taunton to Boston. The private bus lines are shown in Figure 12.

17 3.2.2 Rapid Transit (Red Line)

The MBTA’s Red line rapid transit, with stations at Braintree, Quincy Adams, Quincy Center, Wollaston, and North Quincy, serves the project area and the surrounding communities and provides transportation to and from Boston. Many of the bus services in the area have stops at rapid transit stations to facilitate transfers to downtown Boston. The MBTA runs six-car trains during the AM and PM peak hours and four-car trains at other times. The rush-hour trains operate with an average headway of seven minutes from Braintree and an average speed of 23.3 mph. According to rapid transit entry and exit counts conducted in 1997 on the south-of- downtown section of the Red Line, 27 percent of the trains originating on the Braintree Branch had peak loads close to, but not above, the crowding standard during the busiest peak hour.

3.2.3 Commuter Rail

Within the MBTA’s transportation network, the commuter rail serves the broadest market geographically. In this section we focused on services to the southeastern Massachusetts communities that produce most of the trips passing through the split. The MBTA’s five commuter rail lines in these communities are shown in Figure 12. The five lines are the Franklin Line, Attleboro/Providence Line, Stoughton Line, Middleborough/Lakeville Line, and Kingston/Plymouth Line.

The commuter trains operate at about 30-minute headways during the peak travel periods 7:30–9:00 AM and 4:30–5:30 PM. The off-peak headway is about two hours. Parking is also an important component of commuter rail riders’ trip-making decisions. Nearly 54 percent of the commuter rail riders access the trains by automobiles, making access to park-and-ride lots at the stations an important factor in attracting automobile trips. Information on park- and-ride lots is described in the following section. Another concern is passenger crowding. Peak-load-point counts conducted in 2000 indicated that the Franklin Line had at least one train with more riders than seats during the AM peak period, but none during the PM. The Attleboro/Providence, Stoughton, Middleborough/ Lakeville, and Kingston/Plymouth lines have at least one train in each peak period with a maximum load greater than the seating capacity.

18 The capacities of the MBTA commuter rail lines are limited not only by the capacities of the trains themselves (that is, the number of cars per train), but also by the capacities of the modes used to access the trains, which, in the case of commuter rail, means that adequate parking capacity is necessary to divert trips from travel by private automobile.

In addition, capacity is limited by the throughput capacity of the South Station terminal, which serves all the trains from the south. According to the Program for Mass Transportation (PMT), during peak hours there were very brief times in each peak period when all 13 tracks at South Station were occupied. Midday storage of trains could be a problem if service was expanded further, but at night the majority of the trains are not stored in downtown Boston.

MBTA commuter rail ridership is predicted to increase by 45 percent between now and 2025. This increase, combined with the crowding and terminal capacity problems at South Station, limits the times at which additional trips can be run on existing lines and on new extensions. The planned and proposed commuter rail improvements that are expected to impact traffic operations at the Braintree split are discussed in Chapter 6.

3.3 PARK-AND-RIDE LOTS

One way of increasing transit mode share is through diverting auto trips to commuter rail, rapid transit, and bus transit. The MBTA, MassHighway, Authority (MassPike), Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), and some municipalities operate park-and-ride lots throughout the commonwealth. Over the years, these agencies have expanded some of the park-and-ride lots and have constructed new lots to encourage transit and carpool and vanpool use, with the primary aim of reducing recurring traffic congestion on major highways (Figure 13 and Table 1). An inventory of park-and-ride lots was compiled for the purpose of providing adequate information for deciding what strategies to advance for reducing traffic congestion at the Braintree split.

The MBTA lots are located at the commuter and rapid transit stations. The parking fee is $2.00 a day at all stations in the study area except for the Route 128, Braintree, Quincy Adams, and Quincy Center garages, where the fee is $3.50.The latter three garages also serve Red Line riders. Parking fees at other Southeastern Massachusetts Red Line stations are $3.00 a day. Table 1 shows the utilization of

19 commuter rail park-and-ride lots in the study area that are owned and TABLE 1 operated by the MBTA and municipalities. Commuter Rail Park-and-Ride Lot Inventory (2002)

In addition to the MBTA, some municipalities own and operate Parking Cars Percent 1 parking at MBTA stations, such as at Walpole on the Franklin Line, Town/City Location Operator Fee Spaces Parked Full Sharon and Mansfield on the Attleboro/Providence Line, Stoughton Attleboro/Providence Line and Stoughton Line on the Stoughton Line, and Brockton on the Middleborough/Lakeville Dedham Route 128 MBTA $3.00 2,883 660 23 Line. The daily parking fee at each of these lots is the same as that at Canton Canton Junction MBTA 2.00 775 779 100 MBTA-owned lots. Canton Canton Center MBTA 2.00 211 214 100 Stoughton Stoughton Town 2.00 537 544 100 The MassHighway lots are conveniently located along major Sharon Sharon Town 2.00 742 632 85 commuter highways to serve carpool and vanpool and public/private Mansfield Mansfield Town 2.00 806 812 100 bus service (Figure 13). All-day parking at the MassHighway lots is Attleboro Attleboro MBTA 2.00 780 756 97 often free. Table 2 shows utilization and services at these lots; most Attleboro South Attleboro MBTA 2.00 567 561 99 of the lots that have access to bus service are well utilized. Middleboro/Lakeville Line Braintree Braintree MBTA 3.50 1,262 1,268 100 Massport operates the Logan Express park-and-ride lot in Braintree at Randolph Holbrook/Randolph MBTA 2.00 342 319 95 I-93 exit 6, on Forbes Road. This lot is used for trips only to Logan Brockton Montello MBTA 2.00 425 305 72 Airport. The parking fee is $11.00 a day, or $66.00 a week. Brockton Brockton Town 2.00 240 127 53 Brockton Campello MBTA 2.00 546 285 52 The current status is that many of the park-and-ride lots are fully Bridgewater Bridgewater MBTA 2.00 497 492 99 utilized. Many are full by 9:00 AM, and some even as early as 7:30 Middleboro Middleboro/Lakeville MBTA 2.00 853 563 66 AM. Improving the parking situation is discussed in the section Plymouth/Kingston Line Proposed and Planned Improvements in Chapter 6. Weymouth South Weymouth MBTA 2.00 522 522 100

Abington Abington MBTA 2.00 405 399 99

Whitman Whitman MBTA 2.00 199 177 89

Hanson Hanson MBTA 2.00 428 423 99

Halifax Halifax MBTA 2.00 408 344 84 Plymouth Plymouth MBTA 2.00 96 4 4 Kingston Kingston MBTA 2.00 1,029 903 88 Franklin Line Dedham Dedham Corporate Center MBTA 2.00 497 404 81 Westwood Islington MBTA 2.00 39 30 77 Norwood Norwood Depot MBTA 2.00 227 218 96 Norwood Norwood Central MBTA 2.00 782 638 82 Norwood Windsor Gardens MBTA NA NA NA NA Walpole Plimptonville MBTA 2.00 5 1 20 Walpole Walpole Town 2.00 365 405 100 Norfolk Norfolk MBTA 2.00 530 482 91

Franklin Franklin/Dean College MBTA 2.00 173 170 98

Franklin Forge Park/I-495 MBTA 2.00 716 723 100

1 Includes parking in illegal spots.

NA = Not applicable

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TABLE 2 MassHighway Park-and-Ride Lot Inventory

Parking 1 Town/City Location Spaces Percent Full Transit Services

Rockland Route 3 exit 14 (near Route 228 at Pond Street) 450 65–90 Plymouth & Brockton

Pembroke Route 3 at Route 139, exit 12 92 10 None

West Bridgewater Route 24 at Route 106 (near exit 16) 153 94–100 Bloom Bus Lines

Bridgewater Route 24 at Route 104 (near exit 15) 60 32 None

Taunton Route 24 at Route 140, exit 11 180 NA Bloom Bus Lines, DATTCO

Plymouth Route 3 at Long Pond Road (near exit 5) 234 85 Plymouth & Brockton

Freetown Route 24 at Gramp Deane Road, exit 10 32 50 None

Somerset I-195 at Route 103, exit 4 68 95 None

New Bedford Route 140 at Mount Pleasant Street, exit 4 160 90 DATTCO

Mattapoisett I-195 at North Street, exit 19 80 9 None

Wareham Route 25 at Maple Springs Road, exit 1 120 8 None

Bourne Route 6, north of Sagamore Rotary 377 83 Plymouth & Brockton

Barnstable Route 6 at Route 132 (near exit 6) 365 95 Plymouth & Brockton

Harwich Route 6 at Route 124 (near exit 10) 75 20 Plymouth & Brockton

1 Includes parking in illegal spots NA = Not available

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