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Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association Rail Operations: Planning for the Extremes Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia. Take Me Out to the Ballgame Strategies to Improve Rail Transit Mode Share at Fenway Park.
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Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association Rail Operations: Planning for the Extremes Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia Take Me Out to the BallgameStrategies to Improve Rail Transit Mode Share at Fenway Park David O. Nelson Director of Transit Planning Jacobs Engineering Group Boston, Massachusetts
About Fenway Park • Built 1912 by the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club • America’s Oldest Professional Sports Venue • Seats 37,402 • One of the four smallest stadiums in the major leagues • Have sold out every game since May 2003
Fenway’s Neighbors Boston University Back Bay Kenmore Square • Longwood Medical & Academic Area • Kenmore Square • Boston University • Back Bay • Fenway • Northeastern University • Brookline Brookline Fenway Northeastern University Longwood Medical & Academic Area
Fenway Transportation • Comm Ave • Brookline Ave • Storrow Drive • Park Drive • The Fenway • Green Line • Kenmore • Fenway • Worcester Line • Yawkey • Orange Line • Ruggles • Providence Line • Ruggles Kenmore Yawkey Fenway Longwood Ruggles Ruggles
Fenway Transit Hubs Kenmore Square • B, C & D Lines Fenway Station • D Line Yawkey Station • Worcester Line Kenmore Yawkey Fenway
Increasing Transit to a Larger Fenway • In 1999, the Boston Red Sox proposed to enlarge or replace Fenway with a 33% larger stadium. • Fenway’s neighbors and City concerned about traffic impacts • Study team systematically reviewed options to improve transit mode share to a larger venue
Four phase approach • Review of current plans • Literature review • Review of current services • Identify and evaluate expansion strategies
Four phase approach • Review of current plans • Literature review • Review of current services • Identify and evaluate expansion strategies
Fenway expansion transport plans • Red Sox • Maintain current mode splits • Expand parking • Improve Kenmore Square and Green Line Kenmore Station • More cars on Green Line trains • Improvements to Green Line Fenway Station • Expanded commuter rail facilities and services at Yawkey Station • Improve connections to Orange Line Ruggles Station. • City of Boston • Limit parking expansion • Improve transit mode share with Green Line and Commuter Rail
Four phase approach • Review of current plans • Literature review • Review of current services • Identify and evaluate expansion strategies
Literature Review • New York, Toronto and Boston lead MLB in transit mode share • Limited parking increases automobile occupancy rates and transit use • Superior transit contributes to transit demand peaking • Auto occupancy rates adversely impacted by good transit service • Traffic management after games is usually a bigger challenge than managing arriving crowds due to peaking • Good accessibility appears to increase attendance at games involving mediocre teams.
Four phase approach • Review of current plans • Literature review • Review of current services • Identify and evaluate expansion strategies
Pre Expansion Services Green Line • Public officials estimate that 24% of all fans use Green Line • 13 post game extra cars • Extra collectors and supervisors Commuter Rail • Four special stops at Yawkey Station Local Bus • Two extra buses to Allston and Watertown • Local service routed off Brookline Avenue Orange Line • Red Sox Ruggles Shuttle Bus Police • 12 to 14 transit police at Kenmore and Fenway
About the Green Line • America’s Oldest Subway • ~240,000 boardings per day • ~24,000 passengers per peak hour • ~215 vehicles • Kenmore Square 60 trains per peak hour • Fenway (D Line) 12 eastbound trains per hour
Game Day at Fenway Station 12 Eastbound Riverside Trains per Peak Hour
Game Day at Yawkey • Four pre game trains • One Eastbound • Three Westbound Three Westbound Trains after 8pm
Driving and Parking Neither Easy nor Cheap
Four phase approach • Review of current plans • Literature review • Review of current services • Identify and evaluate expansion strategies
Strategies Identified and Evaluated Institutional (7) Operational (8) Capital (4)
Institutional Strategies • Bundled ticketing • Priority street access for MBTA buses • Post-game events in Fenway park • Local post-game events outside Fenway Park • Red Sox pre-game events at Riverside • Game day signage near Riverside • Subsidized transit for Red Sox employees and concessionaires
Operational Strategies • Kingston commuter rail service • Dedicated Providence/Attleboro commuter rail service • Pre game commuter rail on existing trains from South Station to Yawkey • Longer Green Line trains dedicated to post game service • Improved post-game service to North Station • Express trains from Riverside • Coordinated commuter rail at Ruggles • Express bus service from Fenway connecting with Red Line stations
Capital Strategies • Commuter rail turn-back station and train storage • Increase Green Line capacity at Fenway Station • Increase weeknight pre-game Green Line capacity
Ten Years After • New Red Sox Ownership • New stadium scrapped • Two World Championships • Nearly 800 consecutive sold out games • 9% capacity expansion at historic stadium • Expanded use of stadium for concerts & other events
Ten years of incremental improvements • Renovated Kenmore Station • Improved rail and bus facilities • Improved facilities for game day crush • Improved fare collection system • New Green Line cars • Larger, more reliable fleet • Fenway Station improvements • Still planned • Expanded commuter rail service • More everyday service to Yawkey and Ruggles • Yawkey Station improvements • In design • Yawkey Way and Lansdowne Street Festival Space • Ruggles Orange Line Shuttle • Discontinued
Renovated Kenmore Station • Larger Southside Head House • Elevators and Escalators • Expanded Mezzanine • More Queuing Space • Improved Fare Collection
Yawkey Way Festival Space More space for fans to: • Arrive sooner • Stay longer
New Yawkey Station Air Rights Development New longer two-track station 700 car parking structure 330 homes ~500,000 ft2 office and retail
Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association Rail Operations: Planning for the Extremes Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia Take Me Out to the BallgameStrategies to Improve Rail Transit Mode Share at Fenway Park David O. Nelson Director of Transit Planning Jacobs Engineering Group Boston, Massachusetts