McMAHON ASSOCIATES
45 Bromfield Street | 6th Floor | Boston, MA 02108
p 617-556-0020 | f 617-556-0025
mcmahonassociates.com
PRINCIPALS
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Steve McLaughlin
Joseph W. McMahon, P.E.
Joseph J. DeSantis, P.E., PTOE
John S. DePalma
William T. Steffens
Casey A. Moore, P.E.
Gary R. McNaughton, P.E., PTOE
ASSOCIATES
FROM:
Gary McNaughton, P.E., PTOE
DATE:
April 16, 2014
RE:
Casey Arborway – Hyde Park Avenue School Bus Analysis
John J. Mitchell,
Christopher J. Williams,
R. Trent Ebersole,
Matthew M. Kozsuch,
This memorandum summarizes the current school bus operation on New Washington Street
and the proposed school bus pick-up and drop-off area in the Forest Hills MBTA Station
adjacent to the Lower Busway on Hyde Park Avenue. The proposed pick-up and drop-off area
will primarily service high school buses as elementary and middle school buses pick-up and
drop-off students as close to home as possible. There are currently eight high school buses that
stop on New Washington Street in the morning and afternoon that will be re-routed to the pickup and drop-off area adjacent to the Lower Busway in the MBTA parking lot upon completion
of the Casey Arborway project. The proposed pick-up and drop-off area will provide six live
parking spaces and enable up to three school buses to load/unload without blocking pickup/drop-off traffic.
School Bus Observations
Field observations were conducted during the weeks of February 24, 2014 and March 17, 2014 in
order to fully understand the characteristics of school bus operations on New Washington
Street. The school buses stopped on New Washington Street between the South Street
Washington Street intersections.
In the morning, between 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM, high school students primarily exited the Forest
Hills MBTA station to wait for school buses on New Washington Street and were not dropped
off by parents. High school students that attend West Roxbury Academy wait for the school
bus on the south side of New Washington Street, at the old Green Line stop.
Upwards of 70 students were observed waiting for the bus along the south side of New
Washington Street. The buses in this location did not use their stop signs while students
boarded and the buses were stopped for an average of three minutes until they were full. The
last bus to West Roxbury Academy departed Forest Hills at 6:48 AM. The elementary and
middle school buses that stopped along the north side of New Washington Street utilized their
stop signs for up to 30 seconds and caused queues of up to 10 vehicles, which dissipated after
the bus departed. There were up to 10 parents parked in the pick-up and drop-off zones on
New Washington Street, however they were mainly elementary and middle school parents.
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Steve McLaughlin
April 16, 2014
Page 2 of 3
In the afternoon, between 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM, high school buses were observed dropping
students off on the south side of New Washington Street, just east of South Street. The first
school bus arrived just after 2:00 PM and the following buses arrived in intervals of up to
approximately 5 minutes with a peak of three school buses arriving at one time. In one
observation, all the school buses arrived within ten minutes of the first bus. Seven of the eight
school buses utilized their stop signs forcing both directions of traffic to stop and creating
maximum queues of eight vehicles that spilled back into the South Street intersection, affecting
traffic on both New Washington Street and South Street. The school bus stop signs were
activated for an average of just over one minute with buses departing immediately after signs
were deactivated. One school bus was observed with a dwell time of one minute and fifty
seconds which caused New Washington Street westbound vehicles to queue back into the
Washington Street intersection.
Of the buses observed, only one high school student was picked up by a parent waiting in the
loading area. About 70 percent of students walked into the Forest Hills MBTA Station, 20
percent waited for the MBTA Route 39 bus and about 10 percent walked into the Southwest
Corridor Park.
Existing Pick-up/Drop-off Conditions
The Forest Hills MBTA Station has a pick-up/drop-off area within the lower parking lot
adjacent to the Lower Busway on Hyde Park Avenue. The pick-up/drop-off area is a loop that is
approximately 25 feet wide and provides space for shuttle service, live parking and pickup/drop off activity. Live parking vehicles generally idle along the curb to wait for passengers
to depart the MBTA station. Pick-up/drop-off vehicles generally pull alongside the live parking
vehicles to pick-up and drop-off passengers. Shuttles serving the station from nearby
institutions generally use the sidewalk area parallel to Hyde Park Avenue to pick-up and dropoff passengers.
Observations of the pick-up/drop-off area took place in the morning from 7:00 AM to 7:30 AM
and in the afternoon from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM. Shuttle service, the volume of pick-up/drop-off
vehicles, and the maximum number of live parking vehicles idling were recorded for both time
periods. During the morning observation, 34 vehicles performed pick-up/drop-off activities
stopping only momentarily; a maximum of two vehicles dwelled simultaneously in the live
parking area; and five shuttles serviced the station. In the afternoon, seven vehicles performed
pick-up/drop-off activities; a maximum of nine vehicles dwelled simultaneously in the live
parking area; and one shuttle serviced the station. The current pick-up/drop-off area is
predominantly pick-up/drop-off in the morning and live parking in the afternoon.
Proposed Pick-up/Drop-off
In order to reduce delays caused by school buses on New Washington Street, the proposed
pick-up and drop-off area will be designed to accommodate the West Roxbury Academy school
Steve McLaughlin
April 16, 2014
Page 3 of 3
buses. Eight school buses will continue to transport students between Forest Hills and West
Roxbury Academy. Moving the school buses into the pick-up/drop-off area will remove the
activity associated with the buses from the major roadway and into the pick-up/drop-off area,
greatly reducing the number of vehicles impacted by the buses and decreasing delays on the
major roadways. Based on the school bus observations above, it is expected that the morning
school buses will dwell for three minutes and the afternoon buses will dwell for just over one
minute. It is also expected that no more than three school buses will occupy the pick-up/dropoff lane at the same time.
In order to determine if the school buses and pick-up/drop-off vehicles can utilize the pickup/drop-off lane concurrently, an AutoTURN analysis was completed. The first AutoTURN
analysis was to confirm that a school bus can drive within the proposed pick-up/drop-off lane.
As seen in Figure 1, the school bus can make a right turn from Hyde Park Ave into the pickup/drop-off lane and successfully enter and exit the pick-up/drop-off facility. For the second
scenario, it was determined that the pick-up/drop-off lane would be able to allow pick-up/dropoff vehicles to pass up to three dwelling school buses. Figure 2 shows that a personal vehicle
can enter the pick-up/drop-off lane with three buses parked at the curb and drive within the
pick-up/drop-off facility without being blocked by the school buses. However, during most
times, the school buses depart the site quickly and passing the dwelling buses would not be
necessary. Operationally, school buses that may be dwelling while an earlier bus loads or
unloads should be located in areas where pick-up/drop-off activity can continue.
The proposed pick-up/drop-off parking lot includes six designated pick-up/drop-off spaces for
live parking. These spaces are expected to accommodate both morning and afternoon time
periods with slight spill over into the pick-up/drop-off lane in the afternoon. Spill over in the
afternoon should not present a conflict with the school buses as the buses are only expected to
dwell briefly, potentially restricting through movements with the pick-up/drop-off area for
approximately one minute.
Based on the expected school bus activity and the proposed pick-up/drop-off design, the
relocation of the school buses will have a minimal impact on MBTA passenger activity and will
reduce impacts on the roadway traffic flow on New Washington Street and the future Casey
Arborway. The consolidation of school bus activity will also improve safety and allow for
improved student accommodations.
Figure 1
School Bus Circulation
Casey Overpass
School Bus Observations
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Figure 2
Pick-Up/Drop-Off Circulation
Casey Overpass
School Bus Observations
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts