Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in Bus Rapid Transit and High-Priority Bus Corridors A Synthesis of Transit Practice (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 3 - Case Examples
Chapter 3 - Case Examples
Pages 20-78
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From page 20... ...
Online searches were also conducted before and after the interview to add more details to the case example summaries. The seven case examples along with the agencies involved in the interviews are as follows: • Arlington County, Virginia – Arlington County • Austin, Texas – Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority – City of Austin • Fort Collins, Colorado – City of Fort Collins Transfort • Minneapolis, Minnesota – Metro Transit – Minnesota Department of Transportation – Ramsey County • New York City, New York – NYC Department of Transportation • San Francisco, California – San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency • St.
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From page 21... ...
• The existing street parking on Segment 1 of the extension will be removed to make space for the transit-only lane. Bicyclists will be allowed to continue to use northbound Crystal Drive north of 15th Street South; however, bicyclists will be encouraged to use the existing protected bike lanes on southbound Crystal Drive and on nearby and parallel streets, such as South Clark Street, Army Navy Drive, 15th Street South, 18th Street South, and 21st Street South.
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22 Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in Bus Rapid Transit and High-Priority Bus Corridors Source: Arlington County, Virginia 2022a Figure 13. Northern Transitway Extension route configuration and stops.
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Source: Arlington County, Virginia 2018a Figure 14. Transitway Extension to Pentagon City.
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Source: Arlington County, Virginia 2018b Figure 15. Design plans for 12th Street near Elm Street.
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In other cases, the bus drivers were not able to pass cyclists, causing a substantial reduction in bus running speed. Because of the experience with these shared lanes, the proposed solution for the NTE was to create a separate bike lane facility away from the bus lane or a bike path facility completely segregated from bus Source: Arlington County, Virginia 2022b Figure 16.
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The main concerns expressed by the community were about sidewalk widths at and near transitway stations, bus turning movements from northbound Crystal Drive onto 12th Street South, connections to local and regional bike trails, and safety. Specifically, these concerns focused on pedestrian access to and from a nearby park and safety of pedestrians at a blind spot where Crystal Drive turns into 12th Street at a curve.
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. Accessible pedestrian signals and leading pedestrian intervals are also planned for the traffic signals along the NTE.
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Austin, Texas Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- MetroRapid 801 The case example interview was focused on MetroRapid Route 801, which runs mainly along North Lamar Boulevard and South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. The route began operation in January 2014 and serves 43 stations from far north Austin (Tech Ridge)
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The discussions surrounding these lanes focused on accommodating bicyclists, buses, and parking in the available roadway space. Capital Metro pushed for exclusive bus lanes.
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30 Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in Bus Rapid Transit and High-Priority Bus Corridors Source: Capital Metro 2016 Figure 17. Capital Metro MetroRapid system (Route 801 is the gray line)
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Figure 18. Guadalupe Street in downtown Austin, separate bus and bike lanes.
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Guadalupe Street near the University of Texas campus.
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In sections of South Congress, there was not enough right-of-way for bike lanes on both sides of the street, so shared-lane markings were installed to indicate that buses and bicyclists, as well as motor vehicles, share the lane. In other places where ample pavement width exists, a bu ered bike lane was installed with exible posts for additional separation.
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From page 34... ...
Funding challenges mentioned in the interview included the desire to design and build stations "the best that they can be." Infrastructure that the City of Austin was expected to build such as sidewalks, curb and gutter, and bicycle lanes was a funding hurdle as well because the project was limited in scope. The ongoing maintenance of the pavement markings, signs, and traffic signals (leading pedestrian intervals, countdown signals, and TSP)
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and typical transportation-agency-focused metrics (e.g., motor vehicle delay and vehicle miles traveled) , MetroRapid experienced the greatest year-over-year ridership increase of all Capital Metro modes in 2019 (Thompson 2019)
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The Vision Zero policy and effort did not exist when the BRT was implemented. Capital Metro also collects data involving bus crashes and tracks them monthly.
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Source: TTI 2022 Figure 24. Bicycle count data on Guadalupe Street near the University of Texas.
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Capital Metro continues to coordinate with the City of Austin. In recent years, one example of this coordination pertains to the use of different tools to provide safe crossings for pedestrians in the form of PHBs, pedestrian refuge islands, and the design of the bus stops themselves.
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Map of MAX BRT.
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Planning and Design The MAX BRT project was initiated to maximize access to destination opportunities, reduce travel time and congestion, fill in gaps in the sidewalks and bike facilities, and provide efficient and safe multimodal mobility along the corridor (City of Fort Collins 2000)
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. The part of the corridor that is shared with bicyclists and motor vehicles Source: Felsburg Holt & Ullevig 2004 Figure 26.
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The BRT stops consist of curbside platforms on portions of the alignment along McClelland Drive and Mason Street (Felsburg Holt & Ullevig 2004)
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Facility) $3.75 million City of Fort Collins $3.14 million Note: CDOT = Colorado Department of Transportation; DDA = Downtown Development Authority; CSU = Colorado State University; CSURF = Colorado State University Research Foundation; STC = South Transit Center.
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The FTA comparative evaluation process computed a user benefit value for each traffic analysis zone in the model. The user benefit is a comparative travel time savings value of the MAX BRT project relative to the baseline for all transportation system users.
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The system opened in 2014, so the data do not reflect sentiments before MAX BRT service began. In the three-year period after MAX operation, people walking to bus stops to begin the trip increased by 4.3 percent.
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Source: Metro Transit 2022 Figure 30. Purple Line project schedule.
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As Figure 31 shows, the Purple Line is the section of the route within the Ramsey County rail right-of-way. Pedestrian and bicycle connectivity and traffic safety are two of the key factors determining the selection of BRT routes (AECOM 2017)
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The Metropolitan Council provides essential services and infrastructure to the region, not only operating Metro Transit and other transit services, but also bringing together communities to develop policies and a shared vision and direction for the region (Metropolitan Council n.d.) Ramsey County has completed preliminary station area planning, 15 percent concept plans, and the environmental assessment for the Purple Line BRT project.
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There is limited right-of-way in this section, which is why the Purple Line will be in BAT lanes for most of this section and mixed traffic in the last mile. Source: Ramsey County 2020c Figure 32.
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The largest share of Ramsey County funding is sales tax, and the other share is from the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority tax. Interviewees also pointed to a $1.25 million grant from FTA to conduct station area planning and support TOD devel opment along the corridor.
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Ramsey County also hosted workshops to identify and prioritize topics for assessment, including connectivity, access and accessibility to health care facilities, park and recreation facilities, employment and jobs, and affordable housing. Through these workshops, Ramsey County staff worked with workshop participants to identify options and strategies to maximize health benefits associated with the Purple Line BRT project.
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This program brings elements of Select Bus Service, New York City's version of bus rapid transit, to bus routes throughout the city (NYC DOT 2019)
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Grant Highway, University Avenue south of Tremont Avenue, and University Avenue north of Tremont Avenue. The existing roadway configurations of these three segments are drastically different.
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. The project along University Avenue south of Tremont Avenue was completed in 2022.
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E.L. Grant Highway after the improvements, plan view illustration.
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Compromises were made, and the protected bike lanes are limited. The segment of University Avenue from Tremont Avenue will likely include the following: • Two-way bike paths with a floating parking lane.
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University Avenue from Tremont Avenue to 179th Street/Burnside Avenue -- proposed cross section treatment.
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Figure 44. University Avenue from 181st Street to Kingsbridge Road -- existing and proposed cross section treatment.
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Many of the proposed parameters would have to be altered or scrapped because of existing roadway conditions that do not comply with the current codes, such as ADA. An example is the proposal for concrete boarding islands in the southbound bus stop of University Avenue at Tremont Avenue.
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The team originally proposed the same treatment as for the section of University Avenue south of Tremont Avenue, which is the standard offset bus lane with the parking-protected bike lane and floating parking lane. After a few design iterations, the team implemented a different configuration -- a center-running bus lane with floating islands in the center of the road.
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In this project, the agency also did a special outreach to a particular church that is located at University Avenue and Burnside Avenue. The church was concerned that the floating parking lane design would eliminate parking spaces needed for its essential services.
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Challenges/Lessons Learned Although the BRT project on University Avenue North of Tremont section has yet to be completed, the interviewees stated that they learned lessons from the E.L. Grant section of the project.
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The agency's approach most often tends toward providing separate bike and bus lanes or finding parallel corridors for bicycle facilities where possible though there are a few blocks of shared bus-bicycle lanes in the city. The agency generally avoids shared bus-bicycle lanes where bus frequencies are high and parallel corridors are available or a separate bike lane can be provided.
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Source: SFMTA 2022b Figure 45. Route 9 San Bruno and Route 9R San Bruno map.
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Working with the understanding that bicycle lanes would continue to be part of the corridor, and considering the level of mixing of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, SFMTA implemented boarding islands where space permitted, as illustrated in Figure 46. The corridor carries freight traffic and sees significant double parking.
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On San Bruno Avenue, SFMTA relocated some bus stops, parking spaces, and red-painted curbs after implementation, considering input from local business owners. Project Finance The Route 9R San Bruno project was funded by general obligation bonds (a ballot measure that passed in 2014)
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For Route 9R San Bruno, SFMTA prioritized project components that needed only paint so project components could be implemented as quickly as possible. Even though it did not seem to make sense at the time to relocate a bus stop (and modify striping and paint accordingly)
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On-street parking has been removed from one side of 1st Avenue North and 1st Avenue South in the segments where the bike lanes have been retained and widened. Shared-lane arrows will be added along one section of the route in South Pasadena.
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After a thorough public dialogue and process occurred, it was decided to remove the bicycle lanes west of 34th Street on the 1st Avenues and install them on Central Avenue instead. To the east of 34th Street, parking was sacrificed on the northern side of 1st Avenue North and southern side of 1st Avenue South in the Grand Central District of St.
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Source: PSTA 2020 Figure 49. Left-side floating station plan on 1st Avenue South at 22nd Street.
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Source: PSTA 2020 Figure 50. Left-side floating station plan on 1st Avenue North at 32nd Street.
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Some of the other benefits stated in the FAQs are the following: • "Drivers don't get stuck behind the bus as it makes stops." • "Turning at intersections and into driveways is easier, because BAT lanes provide better visibility and opportunity for turns." • "Travel is faster for vehicles using the general-purpose lanes, as they are no longer delayed by turning vehicles." • "Motorists allowed to use it as a turn lane only." • "Motorists can be in the lane for no more than a city block." • "The lane is always available for emergency vehicles and evacuations." A potential negative of BAT lanes is that motor vehicles can move faster along the corridor, which might lessen safety for people walking or bicycling. However, reducing capacity for through movement would reduce travel speeds overall.
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From page 73... ...
According to the striping plans, the bike lane on 1st Avenue North continues westbound through the 34th Street North intersection and ends at 35th Street North where a bike route sign and a double arrow plaque pointing north and south directs westbound bicyclists. In the eastbound direction, the bike lane begins at the departure leg of 1st Avenue South and 34th Street South (PSTA 2020)
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First Avenue North and 1st Avenue South are classified as minor arterials and are designated truck routes from 16th Street to 34th Street. Some removal of parking was needed, which resulted in wider lanes that can better accommodate trucks than they could before the project.
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Another pedestrian signal enhancement was made on Central Avenue where the city added leading pedestrian intervals throughout. The thought is that Central Avenue is the destination street and the 1st Avenues are the carrier roadways.
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For the part of the route that operates on an FDOT roadway, PSTA had to go through a formal process to seek approval for repurposing the travel lane as a BAT lane. A Lane Elimination Study was done that involved evaluating the impacts of eliminating a general-purpose lane even though it was more of a repurposed lane.
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The city funded the implementation of green paint in the bike lanes to designate conflict areas at all the signalized intersections when funding was not available through the BRT project. Evaluating the bicycle and pedestrian crash data following implementation will provide insight into the safety of the final system design.
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One of the biggest challenges in St. Petersburg was putting the bus route on two different avenues separated by two blocks and serving the commercial corridor that is Central Avenue.
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