TABLE 2-4

BUS PARK-AND-RIDE LOTS WHICH HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED DUE TO LACK OF PATRONAGE

Cars

2-4 reveals several important points:

(1) The majority of fringe bus lots are provided free to the
commuter. The three cities where substantial numbers of park
and riders are attracted and a parking fee levied have special
conditions that do not exist in most cities. While a number of

cities have tried to charge, only the three examples noted above
have been successful.

(2) Most bus fringe lots are located on land that was either
already used for parking or was otherwise available for public
use. Existing parking space associated with shopping centers,
stadiums, auditoriums and service stations has been reserved
during weekday hours for fringe use. In most cases this in no
way interferes with the activities of these enterprises since
their peak demand for parking space occurs during evenings or
weekends when fringe parking is non-operative. For example 750
cars are parked daily in St. Louis Forest Park; 625 cars in
Washington's Carter Barron Theater in Rock Creek Park; and
90 in Milwaukee's Mayfair Shopping Center. The 5th Avenue and
Republican Street lot in Seattle was built for Seattle Worlds Fair.
Today it is partially used to park transit company employees and

the remaining space is being promoted for fringe parking. Washington's
Soldiers Home and South Capitol Street lots were built on land al-

ready owned by the District of Columbia government.

(3) Successful fringe lots seem to be located within a circle extend

ing out to 5.0 miles from downtown and the chance of success,
except for very small lots, seems smaller beyond the 5 mile
limit. Washington's successful lots are all located from 2.5
to 3.5 miles from the core, and St. Louis's Forest Park lot
is 5 miles out. Milwaukee's Mayfair Shopping Center (8.5 miles
out) is an exception although it has unusually fast bus service
that makes the trip to downtown in about 22 minutes. Twenty-
five minutes seems to be the upper limit on bus time for lots
of significant size.

(4) All lots are operated on a self park basis. Guards are used
during the days on some lots and not on others. There seems to
be no pattern here.

Discussion of bus fringe parking cannot be complete without noting the recent H. H. F. A. Demonstration Experiment in Boston, shown in Table 2-4. The Neponset and the Revere Drive-In Theaters each with 1500 spaces were opened to commuters for fringe parking. The round trip bus fare was set at $1.00 and bus headways were established at 5 minutes during peak hours. The average number of parked cars in Neponset was 25; Revere attracted 10. The drive-in theaters are located on major arteries. Inbound traffic moves quite freely beyond the theaters but between the theaters and downtown Boston traffic congestion is extremely heavy during peak hours and heavy during other daylight hours. The minor response at these drive-in theaters can only be attributed

to the availability of fringe parking at rapid transit stations nearby
which are heavily used and which offer a faster service. The drive-
in lots have since been discontinued.

2.2 Fringe Parking Lots in the Washington Area:

The Washington Area has had significant experience with fringe park-and-ride lots in recent years. Both successful and unsuccessful experiments have been conducted by both private and public agencies. A brief description of this experience follows.

2.2.1. D. C. Motor Vehicle Parking Agency: One of the most successful
programs of fringe parking found anywhere in the nation is conducted by
the D. C. Motor Vehicle Parking Agency in cooperation with local bus
companies. Four lots are currently in operation and another is being
planned. These facilities have experienced a steady growth in patronage
since their opening several years ago and today serve more than 1200
vehicles daily (see Fig. 2-1). Each lot is well paved, lighted and signed,
with comfortable shelters, seats and even heat and telephones for passen-
gers waiting for buses. The one exception to this at present is the tem-
porary facility being operated at South Capitol Street during construction
of the Anacostia Freeway. Figure 2-2 is an example of an advertising
flyer provided by MVPA which provide potential customers with details
of service.

Carter Barron: The largest and most used fringe lot operated

by MVPA is located at the Carter Barron Amphitheater, 16th and Colorado

USAGE OF FRINGE PARKING LOTS

OPERATED BY D.C. MOTOR VEHICLE PARKING AGENCY

CARTER BARRON

SOLDIERS HOME

S. CAPITOL STREET

COLUMBIA ISLAND MARINA

1250