Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Practices. Topic SH-25. Building Safe, Quality Access to Bus Stops for Rural and Exurban Communities
Fixed-route bus service routinely operates through suburban and rural communities with legacy infrastructure not consistent with current design standards. As a result, many legacy bus stops in rural, tribal, and frontier communities are inaccessible and/or hazardous to access. This outcome may be a result of any number of causes including insufficient coordination between the transit agency and the local jurisdiction or misaligned priorities between transit and local road owners/users. This is especially true during roadway modification projects tied to routine maintenance, safety, capacity, or new site development. The volume of research addressing the causality, patterns, and appropriate design countermeasures associated with vulnerable road user safety near bus stops gives decision-makers and technicians a full toolbox to dramatically improve safety and comfort for pedestrians, cyclists, and persons with disabilities accessing transit. There is an urgent need, however, to document current practices and protocols regarding the roles, responsibilities, and oversight of design and construction, particularly within the context of the “first and last mile.” This is as much a land use and design problem as it is a transit problem. Given that so many pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occur at mid-block locations along high-speed arterial facilities, providing more effective policies and implementation guidance in this respect can improve the conditions for users who most often access bus networks via walking or cycling. Additionally, with growing emphasis on transit route optimization, complete streets, safe routes to school, vision zero, context-based design, and active transportation, this provides an opportunity for more effective integration of first and last mile safety as a regular order of business. Collaboration also is critical to improve safety and access to/from and at bus stops; no single agency or organization can accomplish this on its own. Transit agencies do not control the street or sidewalk network around bus stops. Cities and counties usually do not make transit routing and facility placement choices. Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Transportation Planning Organizations, and Transportation Planning Agencies are the local entities with the capacity, authority, and mandate to identify and plan for long-range transportation opportunities and needs at the local and regional scale. The same holds true when it comes to funding for bus stops and other transit infrastructure as it typically comes from multiple sources, which contributes to the lack of quality and inconsistent implementation. This synthesis will cover issues of screening/triggers for identifying rural, tribal, frontier, and exurban fixed-route bus stop locations, jurisdictional authority, coordination, and funding/maintenance agreements necessary to improve the conditions of these bus stops, as well as: (1) Expand on above and provide a synthesis of current practices or examples of coordination and trigger processes that exist to provide safe and accessible bus stops in suburban or rural contexts. Incorporate relevant information and gaps based on a scan of the sources below. (2) Examine the collective roles and responsibilities that might improve the culture of collaboration, including public involvement, around transit infrastructure needs. (3) Determine how standard coordination and review capacities and procedures are deployed with respect to first and last mile infrastructure needs (such as benches, shade, connection to nearby locations, crosswalks). Review first and last mile screening and trigger mechanisms to identify locations and needs in advance of routine roadway maintenance, driveway permitting, land development review process, and/or other competing transportation needs.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $55,000.00
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Contract Numbers:
Project J-07, Topic SH-25
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Sponsor Organizations:
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001Federal Transit Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Griswold, Emily
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Performing Organizations:
,Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX United States 77843-3135 -
Principal Investigators:
Leonard, Micah
- Start Date: 20250219
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Accessibility; Bus stops; Highway design; Rural transit; Suburbs; Vulnerable road users
- Subject Areas: Design; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01925955
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
- Contract Numbers: Project J-07, Topic SH-25
- Files: TRB, RIP
- Created Date: Jul 29 2024 5:07PM