Manual on Pedestrian and Bicycle Connections to Transit
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Manual on Pedestrian and Bicycle Connections to Transit AUGUST 2017 FTA Report No. 0111 Federal Transit Administration PREPARED BY Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University COVER PHOTO Courtesy of Edwin Adilson Rodriguez, Federal Transit Administration DISCLAIMER This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products of manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. Manual on Pedestrian and Bicycle Connections to Transit AUGUST 2017 FTA Report No. 0111 PREPARED BY Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University SPONSORED BY Federal Transit Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 AVAILABLE ONLINE https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/research-innovation FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION i MetricMetric Conversion Conversion Table Table Metric Conversion Table SYMBOL WHEN YOU KNOW MULTIPLY BY TO FIND SYMBOL LENGTH in inches 25.4 millimeters mm ft feet 0.305 meters m yd yards 0.914 meters m mi miles 1.61 kilometers km VOLUME fl oz fluid ounces 29.57 milliliters mL gal gallons 3.785 liters L ft3 cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m3 yd3 cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m3 NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m3 MASS oz ounces 28.35 grams g lb pounds 0.454 kilograms kg megagrams T short tons (2000 lb) 0.907 Mg (or "t") (or "metric ton") TEMPERATURE (exact degrees) 5 (F-32)/9 oF Fahrenheit Celsius oC or (F-32)/1.8 FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION iv FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION ii REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruc- tions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED July 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Manual on Pedestrian and Bicycle Connections to Transit FTA-FL-26-7012-00 6. AUTHOR(S) Nathan McNeil, Jennifer Dill, Drew DeVitis, Russell Doubleday, Allison Duncan, and Lynn Weigand 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESSE(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) Portland State University FTA Report No. 0111 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT U.S. Department of Transportation NUMBER Federal Transit Administration Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation FTA Report No. 0111 East Building 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12A. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12B. DISTRIBUTION CODE Available from: National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA 22161. Phone 703.605.6000, Fax 703.605.6900, email [[email protected]] TRI-20 13. ABSTRACT This manual provides a compendium of best practices to help transportation professionals improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and access to transit, including information on evaluating, planning for, and implementing improvements to pedestrian and bicycle access to transit. In addition to covering key concepts such as access sheds, connected networks, and station area comfort, safety, and legibility, the manual covers needs specific to pedestrians, such as complete sidewalks and safe, convenient crossings, and to bicyclists, such as bicycle parking and on-transit accommodations. Topics covered include integrating bike share with transit and making bike share and transit more accessible to people who are unable to ride standard bicycles. The manual also features a detailed section on implementation that covers funding, marketing, interagency coordination, and data collection. Also included are references to existing guidance documents and information collected through a literature review, interviews with professionals, and three case studies of regions that are taking innovative approaches to integrating pedestrians and bicycles with transit—Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES Public transportation, transit, pedestrians, bicycle, transit connections, pedestrian 171 safety, bicycle safety, transit access, multimodal networks 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Executive Summary 7 Section 1: Introduction 7 Overview 7 About This Manual 8 Benefits of Improving Walking and Bicycling Access to Transit 9 Access for All Users 10 Key Resources 13 Section 2: Access Sheds and Networks 13 Access Sheds 17 FTA Recognition of Walk and Bike Sheds 18 Connected Networks 22 Section 3: Key Concepts for Stops and Stations 22 Personal Safety and Security 23 Comfort and Sense of Place 27 Effective Wayfinding 29 Universal Design 30 Section 4: Stop and Station Considerations 30 Bus Stops 36 Bus Rapid Transit Stops 38 Streetcar Stops 39 Light and Heavy Rail Stops 41 Accessing Rail Stations 45 Section 5: Pedestrian Access 45 Sidewalks 49 Crossings 50 Safety and Security 51 Section 6: Bicycle Access 51 Networks to Get to the Stop or Station 52 Wayfinding 53 In the Station 55 Section 7: Bicycle Parking at Transit 56 Types of Bicycle Parking 61 Determining Bicycle Parking Needs 62 Other End-of-Trip Facilities 63 Section 8: Bicycles on Transit Vehicles 63 Criteria 67 Exterior Racks on Buses 69 Types of Interior Racks on Trains 70 Bicycle Boarding Policies FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION vi 73 Section 9: Bike Share and Transit 74 Coordinating Bike Share and Transit 78 Section 10: Planning for Pedestrian and Bicycle Access to Transit 78 Why Plan? 79 Who Plans? 80 Common Plan Elements 81 Types of Plans 88 Section 11: Implementation 88 Setting Agency Priorities and Culture 90 Making the Connection between Walking and Bicycling Access and Transit Service 91 Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination 95 Pilot and Demonstration Projects 97 Funding 103 Marketing and Promotion 104 Data Collection and Evaluation 108 Section 12: Case Studies 108 Atlanta Case Study 118 Los Angeles Case Study 128 Minneapolis-St. Paul Case Study 136 Section 13: References and Citations 136 Resources 153 Research Cited FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION vii LIST OF FIGURES 13 Figure 2-1: “As-the-crow-flies” access sheds from Atlanta Regional Commission’s “Walk. Bike. Thrive!” Plan 14 Figure 2-2: Examples of network walk sheds of ½-mile around two Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail stations 16 Figure 2-3: Example of building bicycle lanes and expanding access shed around stations in San Bernardino Valley 17 Figure 2-4: Metro’s First Last Mile Strategic Plan outlines ways to increase access sheds around stops and stations 20 Figure 2-5: Bus and Bike Conflicts diagram from FHWA Achieving Multimodal Networks document 23 Figure 3-1: Emergency call box, Expo Line Trail, Santa Monica, CA 24 Figure 3-2: BRT bus stop with shelter, seating, and art, in North Hollywood, CA 25 Figure 3-3: Public ART on BeltLine Trail in Atlanta 26 Figure 3-4: Improved 16th Street BART Station Plaza in San Francisco 26 Figure 3-5: Public art at SE Park Ave MAX station along MAX Orange Line in Clackamas County, OR 27 Figure 3-6: MARTA wayfinding signage to stations for pedestrians and bicyclists 28 Figure 3-7: MARTA consistent wayfinding signage and colors to help direct riders to stations from surrounding streets 28 Figure 3-8: Vicinity map posted outside New York City Transit subway station 32 Figure 4-1: Common bus stop locations 33 Figure 4-2: Bus pulling up to near side bus stop in downtown Minneapolis 34 Figure 4-3: MARTA bus is stopped at a mid-block crossing along the Buford Highway with signalized pedestrian crossing behind bus stop 36 Figure 4-4: Bike lane in Los Angeles running behind floating bus stop, which eliminates conflictbetween bicycles and buses 37 Figure 4-5: Median boarding station for the EmX in Eugene, OR 39 Figure 4-6: Separated walking and bicycling routes from streetcar route and station in Portland, OR 40 Figure 4-7: Wide fare gate in Los Angeles 41 Figure 4-8: A pedestrian crossing (left) and additional space adjacent to a rail station (right) at Lindbergh Center Transit Station, Atlanta 42 Figure 4-9: Metro Transit rail crossing in Minneapolis with flashing light signals and blankout signals that activate only when a train is approaching 43 Figure 4-10: Swing gates, with signs telling pedestrians to look both ways, and pavement markings are used at this crossing in Los Angeles FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION viii 44 Figure 4-11: Flashing lights, audible cues, and pedestrian crossing gate are all used at the Westwood/Rancho Park station along Metro’s Expo Line in Los