Vre Stations Reinaldo Germano Planning Intern

MULTIMODAL ACCESSIBILITY TO VRE STATIONS REINALDO GERMANO PLANNING INTERN

VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

1 ARE RIDERS DRIVING ALONE MORE TO ONE STATION THAN TO ANOTHER? • The average rate of driving alone for the Fredericksburg Line is 87%. • However, 94% of riders drive alone to access Brooke station, compared to 76% to Fredericksburg station • For 10 cars parked at Brooke station parking lot there are 11 riders boarding, compared to 23 at Fredericksburg station1

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1: Parking and boarding counts on October 4th 2017 2 BUILT ENVIRONMENT AROUND STATIONS MAY HELP UNDERSTAND WHY

0% 77%

Brooke Station Fredericksburg Station ½ mile radius ½ mile radius

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2017 VRE Master Agreement Survey / Google Earth images 3 IF NOT DRIVING ALONE…

• Riders are carpooling, or being dropped off, or walking to stations more than taking the bus or bicycling • Also, when compared, Fredericksburg Line has a more balanced mode share than Manassas Line

MANASSAS LINE

FREDERICKSBURG LINE

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2017 VRE Master Agreement Survey 4 HOW DO STATIONS COMPARE?

• This study aims to identify opportunities for active and public transportation options to access VRE stations. • Existing and potential accessibility options to Lorton, Woodbridge, and Fredericksburg stations were explored. • Fredericksburg station is inserted in a more urban environment, while the others are in a more suburban environment. • Lorton station has a 20 times smaller a catchment area than Fredericksburg station and more Transit Oriented Development (TOD) near the station. • Woodbridge has potential for more TOD near the station and more transit service

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5 HOW DO RIDERS ACCESS STATIONS TODAY?

Drive Dropped Carpool Bus Bicycle Walk Other alone off

Fredericksburg 87% 4% 2.5% 1% 0.5% 3.7% 1.3% Line

Lorton 84% 3% 1.5% 2% 0.5% 7.5% 1.5% Woodbridge 86% 6% 2.0% 0% 0.5% 3.5% 2.0% Fredericksburg 76% 4% 4.5% 4% 0.5% 8.5% 2.5%

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2017 VRE Master Agreement Survey 6 WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE STREET GRID?

In reality this access shed is compromised by the street grid, breaks in the access network, location and number of street crossings, and fluctuations in average speed of pedestrians due to crossing characteristics and sidewalk conditions.

Fredericksburg Station Woodbridge Station Lorton Station ½ mile radius ½ mile radius ½ mile radius VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

7 ½ MILE FREDERICKSBURG STATION

= 2 riders walking to the station = 2 riders driving to the station

• Almost half of all riders walking to the station (47 of 106 riders) reside within this radius; • Walking is the mode of access of 72% of all riders residing within this radius. Fredericksburg Station ½ mile radius VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

8 ½ MILE WOODBRIDGE STATION

= 3 riders walking to the station = 3 riders driving to the station

• 23 riders walk to this station, only 6 reside within a ½ mile radius; • Walking is the mode of access of 17% of all riders residing within this radius, while 67% drive alone and park. Woodbridge Station ½ mile radius VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

9 ½ MILE LORTON STATION

= 3 riders walking to the station = 3 riders driving to the station

• 88% of all riders walking to the station (42 of 48 riders) reside within this radius; • Walking is the mode of access of 57% of all riders residing within this radius, while 38% drive alone and park. Lorton Station ½ mile radius VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS

10 WHERE ARE RIDERS BICYCLING FROM?

FREDERICKSBURG • In average there are 5 bicycles parked at the station each day; • 4 origins were mapped and only one is along the Virginia Central Railway Trail; • In average a rider bikes 1.2 miles to access the station. WOODBRIDGE • 2 origins were mapped, one 5.1 Lorton miles away from the station, another Woodbridge 0.9 mile away Rippon • There are not bicycle paths or lanes Quantico LORTON Brooke • 1 origin was mapped, 3.6 miles away Leeland Rd from the station • There is bicycle lanes along 75% of Fredericksburg the way Spotsylvania

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Parked bicycles average based on counts from July 2016 and June 2017 11 WHERE ARE RIDERS TAKING THE BUS FROM?

FREDERICKSBURG Train Fredericksburg • Several FRED bus routes VS1 VF1 serve the station, two of them Number Station act as feeder routes; 300 5:05 5:00 5:00 • Spotsylvania County VRE 302 5:15 Feeder Bus (VS1) runs along 304 5:31 5:25 Route 3 and connects Salem 306 5:45 5:40 Church Crossing and Gordon 308 6:11 6:05 6:00 Road Commuter lots; 310 6:31 6:25 6:25 • Fredericksburg VRE Feeder 86 6:56 Bus connects Idlewild to the 312 7:16 7:10 7:10 station. 314 7:44 7:35 7:35 174 8:00 84 9:19 94 11:57

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Parked bicycles average based on counts from July 2016 and June 2017 12 WHERE ARE RIDERS TAKING THE BUS FROM?

FREDERICKSBURG 24% of riders driving alone to the station reside within a buffer of ½ mile from one shuttle bus route

Origin of riders taking the bus to Fredericksburg Station

FRED Feeder Bus routes

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13 WHO IS ACCESSING WOODBRIDGE AND LORTON STATIONS BY BUS?

WOODBRIDGE • According to the 2017 VRE Master Agreement survey results, no rider accessed the station by bus • The station is served by two local bus services, OmniLink routes: Woodbridge/Lake Ridge and Route 1 • Neither are operationally integrated to VRE service LORTON • 10 riders (2%) access the VRE by bus • Connector buses 171, 305, 371, 372, 373, 494 serve Lorton Station • None are operationally integrated to VRE service

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14 OPPORTUNITIES

• Over half of the riders traveled fewer than 5 miles from their homes to a VRE station1, improvements in a ½ mile (walking) or 3 mile (bicycling) radius from the stations would impact many riders. • 0.5% of the riders access an origin station along the Fredericksburg line using bicycles2 and there is opportunity to increase that share by providing infrastructure and low-stress environments. • Operational integration between feeder buses and VRE trains could contribute to mode shift and new riders. Lorton is served by several bus routes that carry 2% of the riders boarding at the station; while FRED operates 2 bus shuttle routes with fewer trips and transport 4% of the station’s riders. • Promoting carpooling and kiss-and-ride could reduce the number of parked cars.

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1: 2017 VRE Customer Opinion Survey | 2: 2017 VRE Master Agreement Survey 15 Growth in VRE and Surrounding Land Uses

Christopher Salzano Summer 2018 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS Master of City Planning Student, University of Pennsylvania 201916 Study Goals

Lorton is being used as a case study because it is a successful example of development around a VRE Station. This study hopes to take observations from Lorton, and see how they could potentially be applied to the newer Spotsylvania Station.

Questions to be Answered

- Where do Lorton riders come from?

- Who goes to Lorton?

- What can Spotsylvania learn from Lorton?

- What can this mean for VRE?

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17 Similarities and Differences Between Locations

- Amount of available land

- Nearby military installations

- Belvoir vs. A.P Hill

- Difference in access options

- Location on VRE line

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18 VRE – Land Use Correlation

1: VRE creates & meets new goals 1

4: Demand for 2 2: Ridership increases. service increases 4 Demand for housing increases.

3: Counties encourage development by stations

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19 SpotsylvaniaLorton

10 Miles 10 Miles

5 5Miles Miles

Station =

Origin =

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20 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 1990

VRE Lorton

Station = Lorton Boarding Count

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21 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 1990 - 1997

VRE Lorton 1994: 1992: VRE Lorton Newington Station Costco opens warehouse opens New trains obtained

1995: Improvement to Potomac Yards made.

Improvemen ts made on CSXT lines including at Lorton for auto train

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 22 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 1997 - 2002

VRE Lorton 1997: 1998: 23 million in Rezoned revenue from I-6 bonds issued to PDC & to finance 13 PDH new bi-level railcars. 2000: “The Fields” All VRE lots apartments made free built

1999: bi- 2001: level railcars Lorton begin Reformatory arriving closed

Crossroads Yards expansion initiated

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 0 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 23 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2002 - 2007

VRE Lorton 2004: 2002/2003 VRE sold 38 Rezoned single- from R-C to leveled cars, PDH around and leased former back 7 cab reformatory cars and provided an 2006: option for 5 “The trailer cars. Marketplace at Lorton” Quantico built Bridge contract signed

VRE acquired 35 new gallery cars from Chicago

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0

1994 1996 1998 2000 242002 2004 2006 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2007 - 2009

VRE Lorton 2008: 2007: VRE Lorton Town dispatching Center built moved from Jacksonville Florida to Baltimore M.D

Three new track improvemen ts initiated with CSXT

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0 2017

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 252004 2006 2008 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2009 - 2011

VRE Lorton 2011: Vista Laurel apartments completed

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 262006 2008 2010 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2011 - 2013

VRE Lorton 2012: 2012: Woodridge Walgreens kiss & ride constructed opened 2013: Amtrak Construction releases begins on master plan Clementine for Union Court Station

2013: 8 new rail cars purchased

Platform extension IFB ready to be proposed

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0

1994 1997 2000 2003 272006 2009 2012 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2013 - 2015

VRE Lorton 2013: 2014: Final Order Rezoned for from R-C to Replacement PDH & PDC Rail Cars around former 2014: reformatory TIGER grant awarded for 2014: Long Bridge Clementine Project Court completed. 2015: Fredericksbu rg Line extended mobile ticketing

Spotsylvania opens

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0

1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 28 2009 2012 2015 1990 1997 2002 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2015 - 2017

VRE Lorton 2016: 2017: Atlantic Lorton Gateway Reformatory Project funds apartments Long Bridge phase 1 set Design to be complete 2017: Smart Scale Grant awarded for FBG Line capacity expansion

Station = Lorton Boarding Count 600 400 200 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 0

1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 292009 2012 2015 2002 2007 2009 2013 2017 2002

VRE Spotsylvania 1997: 23 million in revenue bonds issued to finance 13 new bi-level railcars.

Pelham’s All VRE lots Reserve Spotsylvania made free Cosner’s Sportsplex Corner Spotsylvania 1999: bi-level Station railcars begin arriving

Crossroads yards expansion initiated