Providing New Transportation Choices through Transit Prioritization Strategies

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Providing New Transportation Choices through
Transit Prioritization Strategies

• BRT ON MANAGED LANESorPARK RIDE on HOV
  LANES

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• Intro to Houston METRO
• Discuss History since 1979
• Priority buses Park Ride program
• Priority Highways HOV
• Discuss Future since Jan. 2009
• Priority buses Satellite Buses
• Priority Highways HOT Lanes / Managed lanes

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The City Houston, Texas

• 2 million residents
• 2 million more expected by 2020
• 1,700 Square miles

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The Transit Provider

• Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County,
  Texas
• (Houston METRO)
• Service area 1,700 Sq. Miles
• 100 million boardings in 2008
• 250,000 daily boardings

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HOUSTON METRO

• 1,200 buses in service
• 126 Routes - 95 Local, 31 Park Ride
• 8 mile METRO Rail LRV line
• 6.7 million Boardings per month
• 4.8 million bus, 1.2 million rail per month
• 4.2 million Local Bus 600,000 Park Ride per
  month
• 87 Miles of HOV Lanes 6 Corridors
• 36,000 vehicles per day 7 total highway
  traffic

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METRO PRIORITY BUSES

• HISTORIC Park Ride Program since 1979
• 31 Routes 12 to 40 mile trip lengths
• Move patrons from 29 Parking Lots, 27 Other Sites
  in 5 counties
• into Downtown Houston and Texas Medical Center
• Using HOV Lanes
• 25,000 parking spaces
• Approx. 30,000 Daily Boardings (15-20 of daily
  boardings)
• Early form of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service
• Special Stations
• No Stops en-route
• FUTURE Satellite Buses since June 1, 2009
• 3 Routes to be established
• 1st route Bellaire route parallel to largest
  local route
• From Suburbs to Texas Medical Center
• Using city streets rather than HOV Lanes

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METRO Park Ride Sites

• 29 Park Ride parking facilities

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METRO Park Ride Sites

• 27 other Park Ride sites in 4 neighboring
  counties

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METRO Park Ride Facility
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METRO Park Ride Service

• Commenced Operations 1979
• Early form of Bus Rapid Transit
• No stops between Park Ride lots and destination
  zone
• Downtown or Texas Medical Center
• Variety of Buses Employed in Service
• MCI hybrids diesel
• New Flyer Viking
• Neoplan Articulated
• Weekday service only
• Zoned Fares based on distance from destination
• 3 zones one fare per route
• All trips use HOV Lanes

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METRO Future QuickLine Satellite Bus Service

• Commenced Operations June 2009 Bellaire
  Route 402
• Eases demand on the 2 Bellaire route (10,000
  riders daily)
• Limited stops to popular business centers all
  along the line
• Eight state-of-the-art bus stations complete with
  digital next bus signage
• A bright blue road stripe has been painted along
  the entire route for easy identification.
• Reliable weekday rush-hour service, every 15
  minutes
• Same Fare as Local Service Routes 1.25 each way
• Overall trip times reduced from 52 to 38 minutes
  over the 9-mile route
• Custom-wrapped bus exterior for easy
  identification
• Additional routes planned

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PRIORITY HIGHWAYS

• HISTORIC High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes
• 87 Miles of HOV Lanes
• Designed and Built for Bus Usage Only
• From 1979 to 1985 Bus and Vanpool only
• 1985 Carpools permitted 2 / 3 usage allowed
• 6 Corridors
• North, West, Northwest, Northeast, Southeast
  Southwest
• I-10 West, I-45 North South, US 59 North
  South, US 290
• FUTURE High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes
• Permit use by Single Occupant Vehicles for toll

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HOV Corridors

• IH 45 North
• IH 45 South
• US 59 North
• US 59 North
• US 59 South
• US 290
• IH 10 West

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History of METRO HOV Lanes

• Lane Openings
• 1979 First Corridor pylons, bus and vanpool
  only
• 1984 Second Corridor barrier separated, bus and
  vanpool only
• 1985 Carpool added to two corridors
• 1988 Two Corridors Added - Bus, Vanpool and
  Carpool
• 1993 One Corridor Added - Bus, Vanpool and
  Carpool
• 1999 One Corridor Added - Bus, Vanpool and
  Carpool
• Operation Condition
• One lane per Corridor barrier separated
• Initially Pylons only on first corridor from 1979
  to 1984
• Bus VanPool Operation only from 1979 to 1984
• Carpools permitted in 1985, 4 then 3 then 2
  (3 on 290 AM remains)

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Current METRO HOV Lane Operations

• No changes to core design
• primary access / egress through Park Ride lots
• Manual direction reversals at all access points
  twice a day gate movements
• Operate in Peak Hours only
• Mon. Fri. 5 am 11 am 2 pm 8 pm
• One lane per Corridor Barrier Separated
• Most mid-route entries through Park Ride lots,
  rather than from general purpose lanes
• Daily Vehicle Volumes 36,000 per day
• 7 8 total Traffic Volumes in Corridors
• 1,000 Buses per day
• 500 Vanpools
• 35,000 Carpools
• 2 Carpools allowed 3 only for US 290 AM Peak

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METRO HOV Lane Operations
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PLANNED HOV LANE IMPROVEMENTS

• Strategy
• Improve use of existing HOV resources
• Currently used by 36,000 vehicles per day
  expect 50 - 75 increase
• Mitigate Congestion on General Purpose Lanes
• Improve monitoring of traffic flows through
  cameras, meters
• Reduce Operating Cost through gate automation
• Provide some improvement to air quality

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Houston Area Managed Lane Projects

• I-10 Katy Managed Lanes (Opened March 2009)
• Managed by Harris County Toll Road Authority
  (HCTRA)
• Constructed with TxDOT I-10 Expansion project
• 2 Managed Lanes in each direction
• HOV Hours (Mon. Fri. 5 am 11 am 2 pm 8 pm)
• 1 lane free HOV 2 1 lane tolled SOV
  2 - 4
• Non-HOV Hours and Weekends - both lanes tolled
  HOV SOV 1
• Carries approximately 12,000 per day (8 total
  traffic)
• 7,000 HOV, 5,000 Tolled
• 5 Corridors METRO HOT Lanes (Likely Start mid
  2010)

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METRO HOT Lanes

• 5 Corridors
• Eastex, North, Northwest, Southwest, Gulf
  Expressways
• One lane per Corridor barrier separated
• SOVs tolled at all times, HOVs free at all times
• Dynamic Pricing price rises with congestion in
  lane
• Toll Rates to Be Determined by METRO Board
• SOVs prohibited when lane speed below 50 mph
• Automated Gates will permit night and weekend
  operation
• Probable Start Date mid 2010

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HOT Lane Conversion

• BENEFITS
• Expands use of HOV Lanes by 50
• Expeditious implementation 1.5 years for
  implementation
• Enhances maximum HOV lanes utilization rates in
  nation
• (currently 7 total traffic v. 3 nationally)
• No new real estate required
• Enhance and expand operations through automated
  gate control systems
• Provide ease of use through better signage,
  movement monitoring systems
• Cost is affordable
• COSTS
• Approx. 50 million for installation
• 80 Capital cost recovery from FTA
• 8-10 million per annum for Operations,
  Maintenance and Enforcement
• Recoup Operating, Maintenance and Enforcement
  costs through tolls

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Available HOV Lane Capacity
Sell Blue and Yellow Areas
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HOT Lane Impact on Transit Schedules

• Minimal Impact on bus schedule due to increased
  volumes expected
• Reduce adverse impact on speed with controlled
  access to lane
• No Single Occupant access when speed less than 50
  mph
• Dynamic Pricing increases tolls as speed
  diminishes to reduce demand
• Greater occupancy enforcement available due to
  funding through tolls
• Arrangements on I-10 lanes with HCTRA
• Bus access guaranteed
• Operations Committee reviews schedule impact and
  adjusts tolls / access accordingly
• No issues with traffic flow to date despite
  greater use than expected

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COMPONENTS OF HOT LANE TOLLING OPERATION
TRANSPONDER READERS
LICENSE CAMERAS
VERIFICATION AGENTS
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Two Path Access
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Toll Collection

• Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) will use a special
  lane at observation booths.
• Transponder will be read
• License Plate will be photographed
• If transponder valid account will be charged
  toll.
• If transponder invalid or missing license plate
  photo will be used to send violation notice to
  registered owner of plate.

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HOT Lane Operations

• DYNAMIC TOLLING EMPLOYED
• Toll varies based on HOT lane congestion / speed
• Automatic toll collection no barriers no cash
  needed.
• All vehicles will need a transponder.
• EZ-Tag or Texas toll tags will be accepted for
  payment fully interoperable
• Free Trips counted with transponder readers in
  HOV lane
• Missing transponder generates citation to plate
  holder automatically
• Toll price posted well in advance of entry
  points.
• Toll to patron does not change after entry to
  lane.
• Occupancy enforcement with attendants and patrol
  officers

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Other HOT Lanes
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Future HOV Lane Enhancements

• Phase 1 HOT Lane Conversion current year
• Phase 2 Access Improvements 2 / 4 years
• Phase 2 a Lane Access / Egress Improvements
  (Slip Ramps)
• Phase 2 b Lane Access / Egress Improvements
  (Wishbone Ramps)
• Phase 3 Lane Dualization 10 / 20 years
• Phase 4 High Speed Rail in ROW - ???

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Phase 2 Access Improvements

• BENEFITS
• Provides additional direct outbound and inbound
  access from general purpose to HOV Lanes
• Further congestion mitigation
• Expeditious implementation Approx. 4 years to
  install
• Minimal impact on real estate limitations
  primarily achieved through use of existing
  shoulders
• Employs movement monitoring, tolling systems and
  automated gate systems from Phase 1
• Cost to implement is affordable
• COSTS
• Approximately 50 70 million to implement

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Phase 2 Access Improvements
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Phase 3 Lane Expansion

• BENEFITS
• Maximize congestion mitigation on existing system
• Increase HOV Usage
• Estimates range between additional 60,000 to
  85,000 vehicles
• Change in vehicle volumes additional 63 to
  135 from current
• DISADVANTAGES
• Extensive impact on real estate need to expand
  freeways
• Will require thousands of condemnations / taking
  actions
• Extensive cost
• Extensive time required for implementation
• Expansion of some corridors will NOT meet traffic
  demand in 2035

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Phase 4 High Speed Rail

• Strategy
• Install elevated guide way rail in center of all
  HOV corridors
• Install station operations at existing Park
  Ride facilities
• Extend rail beyond current termini of HOV lanes
• Benefits
• Avoid extensive need for real estate takings
  most real estate in TxDOT highway right-of-way
  and METRO Park Ride sites
• Provides service to meet traffic forecasts beyond
  2035
• Cost
• Approximately 30 million per mile
• Total costs for 6 corridors approximately 3
  Billion

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THANK YOU !!!!

• RICH LOBRON
• LCL Advisors, Inc. Houston METRO
• 610-889-2005 713-739-4047
• rich_at_lobron.com
  rich.lobron_at_ridemetro.org