Houston North Freeway Contraflow Lane Demonstration
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2 HE 1 8.5 U M T A-M A -06-0049-82-1 7' . A3 DOT-TSC-U MTA-82-56 no. DOT- U.S. Department TSC- of Transportation U MTA- 82-56 Urban Mass Transportation Administration V Houston North Freeway Contraflow Lane Demonstration Final Report December 1982 UMTA/TSC Project Evaluation Series Service and Management Demonstrations Program ' NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Govern- ment assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. NOTICE The United States Government does not endorse prod- ucts or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers namfes appear herein solely because they are con- sidered essential to the object of this report. rt.l Technical Report Documentation Page , 437 1 . Report No. 2. Government Accession Nc 3. Recipient's Catalog No. T>cTT~ UMTA-MA-0 6-00 49-82-12 Tsc- OMTh ‘ 4. Title and Subti tie 5. Report Date HOUSTON NORTH FREEWAY CONTRAFLOW LAN! December 1982 *f2- 'S"% 6. Performing Code DEMONSTRATION DEPARTMENT Organization of DTS-6 4 TR A NSPOPTATION 8. Performing Organization Report No. 7. Authors) JU L ' JQTl DOT-TSC-UMTA- 82-56 Terry J. ALherton, Ellyn S. Eder 9. Performing Organization Nome and Address 10. Work Unit No. (T R A I S) library UM227 /R2676 Cambridge Systematics, 1 Inc.* r 1 Contrac o' Grant No. 238 Main Street DOT-TSC-l 40 5 Cambridge, MA 02142 13 Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Nome ond Address Final Repor t U.S. Department of Transportation 1/75 - 12/81 Urban16. Mass Transportation Administration Office of Technical Assistance Office of Service and Management Demonstrations 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington DC 20590 URT-30 15. Supp I ementory Notes U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Special Programs Administration *Under contract to: Transportation Systems Center Cambridge MA 02142 Abstract This report presents an evaluation of the impacts associated with contraflow operation of Houston's North Freeway under UMTA's Service and Management Demonstra- tions Program. In the Houston demonstration, a 9.6 mile contraflow lane was available for use by buses and vanpools during the morning and afternoon peak periods. In addition to the contraflow lane, a number of other transportation improvements were also implemented in the North Freeway corridor. In particular, bus service was expanded considerably and two park-and-ride lots were built and a third leased from a church. 17. The evaluation focuses on the feasibility18. (in terms of adverse impacts on non- priority users, safety, enforcement, public acceptance, etc.) and effectiveness (in terms of utilization, increased bus and vanpool ridership, etc.) of the contraflow lane. Contraflow operation resulted in an average round-trip travel- time savings of 40 minutes for bus riders and vanpoolers using the contraflow lane during the peak hour. As a result, bus ridership and, to a lesser extent, vanpooling increased considerably. The feasibility of contraflow operation as an HOV priority measure was also demonstrated by this project. Key Words Distribution Statement Contraflow Lane, Demonstration Project, DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH HOV, Transit Ridership, Vanpooling SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON DC 20402 21- No. of P ages 22. Price 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 308 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized 9 PREFACE This document was prepared under Task Directive D0T-TSC-1405-23 as part of the Service and Management Demonstrations Program sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) Office of Service and Management Demonstrations. This report presents the final evaluation of the impacts associated with the implementation of a contraflow lane on the North Freeway in Houston, Texas, on August 28, 1979. The evaluation focuses primarily on the feasibility and effectiveness of contraflow operation as a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) priority measure. Cambridge Systematics had primary responsibility for the evaluation of the demonstration project. Ellyn Eder, Cambridge Systematics' project manager for most of the evaluation effort, and Terry Atherton are the principal authors of this report. John Suhrbier, also with Cambridge Systematics, and Fred Wagner of Wagner-McGee Associates also contributed to the evaluation effort. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), assisted by its data collection contractors, Beiswenger, Hoch and Associates, Inc., and the Texas Transportation Institute, was responsible for administering the surveys used to obtain the travel data supporting the evaluation effort. In particular, the efforts of METRO's project manager, Charles A. Fuhs, in coordinating the data collection effort are greatly appreciated. Valuable suggestions and guidance for this evaluation were provided by David Damm and Carla Heaton of the Transportation Systems Center, and Joseph Goodman, the UMTA project manager. iii FACTORS CONVERSION METRIC xv TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1-1 1.1 Contraflow Concept 1-1 1.2 Demonstration Description and Objectives 1-2 1.3 Organizational Roles 1-5 1.4 Evaluation Design 1-8 1.4.1 Person and Vehicle Utilization 1-8 1.4.2 Characteristics of Users and Non-Priority Travellers ... 1-9 1.4.3 Impact on Non-Priority Freeway Users 1-10 1.4.4 Influence of Contraflow Lane Relative to Other Corridor Improvements 1-11 1.4.5 Safety and Enforcement 1-11 1.4.6 Public Acceptance 1-12 1.4.7 Vehicle Miles of Travel, Fuel Consumption, and Emissions 1-12 1.4.8 Cost s 1-13 2. DEMONSTRATION SETTING 2-1 2.1 Houston Region 2-1 2.1.1 Population 2-1 2.1.2 Employment 2-2 2.1.3 Highway System 2-5 2.1.4 Transit Service in Houston 2-6 2.2 North Freeway Corridor 2-8 2.3 Need for Corridor Improvements 2-10 3. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS 3-1 3.1 History of Project Planning and Implementation 3-1 3.2 Costs and Financing 3-3 3.2.1 Costs 3-3 3.2.2 SMD Grant Funding 3~5 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 3.3 Promotion and Marketing 3-5 3.4 Public Acceptance 3-12 3.5 Future Plans 3-13 4. FREEWAY MODIFICATIONS AND CONTRAFLOW OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES 4-1 4.1 Freeway Modifications 4-1 4.1.1 Contraflow Lane Access 4-2 4.1.2 Lane Separation 4-11 4.1.3 Ramp Control 4~14 4.2 Contraflow Lane Operations 4-17 4.2.1 Set-Up and Take-Down Procedure 4~17 4.2.2 Bus and Vanpool Certification Requirements 4-21 4.2.3 Enforcement 4-23 4.3 Concurrent Flow Lane 4-23 4.4 Costs 4-29 5. NORTH FREEWAY OPERATING CONDITIONS 5-1 5.1 Traffic Volumes 5-1 5.1.1 Non-Priority Lanes 5~1 5.1.2 Contraflow Lane 5-5 5.1.3 Person Throughput— All Lanes 5-10 5.2 Travel Speeds 5-10 5.2.1 Peak Direction 5-13 5.2.2 Off-Peak Direction 5-13 5.2.3 Contraflow Lane 5-16 5.2.4 Travel Time 5-17 5.3 Accidents 5-19 5.3.1 Non-Priority Lanes 5~19 5.3.2 Contraflow Lane 5-21 5.4 Contraflow Lane Violation Rates 5-24 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 5.5 Key Findings 5~26 5.5.1 Travel Time Savings for Contraflow Lane Users 5-26 5.5.2 Utilization 5-27 5.5.3 Impacts on Non-Priority Travellers 5-27 5.5.4 Accidents 5-28 5.5.5 Enforcement 5-28 6. BUS OPERATIONS AND RIDERSHIP 6-1 6.1 North Freeway Corridor Park-and-Ride and Bus Services 6-1 6.1.1 Park-and-Ride Lots 6-1 6.1.2 Bus Service 6-5 6.1.3 Fares 6-8 6.1.4 Costs 6-9 6.2 Growth of Bus Ridership and Park-and-Ride Lot Utilization .... 6-9 6.2.1 Bus Ridership 6-9 6.2.2 Park-and-Ride Lot Utilization 6-15 6.3 Key Findings 6-18 6.3.1 Improved Transit Service 6-18 6.3.2 Increased Ridership 6-18 6.3.3 Influence of Contraflow Lane 6-18 7. VANPOOL OPERATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS 7-1 7.1 Vanpooling in Houston 7-1 7.1.1 Employer-Sponsored 7-1 7.1.2 VanShare 7-1 7.1.3 Owner-Operated 7-3 7.1.4 Community-Based 7-3 7.2 Growth in Contraflow Lane Van Use 7-3 7.3 Characteristics of Vanpools 7-11 7.3.1 Formation 7-11 7.3.2 Vanpool Fares and Parking Costs 7-14 Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 7.3.3 Driver Responsibilities and Incentives 7-16 7.3.4 Vanpool Reliability 7-18 7.4 Key Findings 7-20 7.4.1 Increase in Vanpooling 7-20 7.4.2 Relationship Between Vanpooling and Bus Ridership 7-20 8. CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTH FREEWAY TRAVELLERS 8-1 8.1 Trip Characteristics 8-1 8.1.1 Purpose, Length, Origin, and Destination 8-1 8.1.2 Frequency of Bus Use 8-3 8.1.3 Former Mode of Bus Riders and Vanpoolers 8-5 8.1.4 Access Mode and Distance (Bus and Vanpool) 8-7 8.2 Traveller Characteristics 8-12 8.2.1 Socioeconomic 8-12 8.2.1 Time at Present Residence and Employment Location 8-17 8.2.3 Auto Availability 8-20 8.2.4 Perceptions of Contraflow Lane 8-26 8.3 Key Findings 8-30 8.3.1 Trips Served by Contraflow Lane 8-30 8.3.2 Former Modes of Bus Riders and Vanpoolers 8-30 8.3.3 Importance of Park-and-Ride Facilities 8-30 8.3.4 Soc ioeconomic Characteristics 8-31 8.3.5 Influence of Population Growth 8-31 9.