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
David O. Nelson
1
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
2
But, Fenway and the Red Sox have
not always been so popular
40,000
Fenway Attendence and Seating Capacity
35,000
30,000
25,000
Seating Capacity
Average Crowd
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
3
0
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Fenway’s Neighbors
•
Longwood
Medical &
Academic Area
•
Kenmore
Square
•
Boston
University
Boston University
Kenmore Square
Back Bay
Brookline
•
Back Bay
•
Fenway
•
Northeastern
University
•
Brookline
4
Fenway
Northeastern University
Longwood Medical
& Academic Area
Fenway Transportation
•
•
•
•
•
Comm Ave
Brookline Ave
Storrow Drive
Park Drive
The Fenway
•
Green Line
–
–
•
•
Yawkey
Kenmore
Fenway
Worcester Line
–
Kenmore
Fenway
Yawkey
Orange Line
–
•
Ruggles
Providence Line
–
Ruggles
Longwood
5
Ruggles
Ruggles
Fenway Transit Hubs
Kenmore Square
• B, C & D Lines
Fenway Station
• D Line
Kenmore
Yawkey Station
• Worcester
Line
Yawkey
Fenway
6
How do fans travel to Fenway?
Drive and Park 68%
Rapid Transit or Bus 24%
7
Commuter Rail
2%
Charter Bus
3%
Walk
2%
Other
1%
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
8
Four phase approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
9
Review of current plans
Literature review
Review of current services
Identify and evaluate expansion
strategies
Four phase approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
10
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
11
Four phase approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
12
Review of current plans
Literature review
Review of current services
Identify and evaluate expansion
strategies
Literature Review
1. New York, Toronto and Boston lead MLB in transit
mode share
2. Limited parking increases automobile occupancy rates
and transit use
3. Superior transit contributes to transit demand peaking
4. Auto occupancy rates adversely impacted by good
transit service
5. Traffic management after games is usually a bigger
challenge than managing arriving crowds due to
peaking
6. Good accessibility appears to increase attendance at
games involving mediocre teams.
13
Four phase approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
14
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
15
– 12 to 14 transit police at Kenmore and Fenway
Fenway Park and The Green Line
16
About the Green Line
•
•
•
•
•
•
17
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 Kenmore Station
18
Game Day at Fenway Station
12 Eastbound Riverside
Trains per Peak Hour
19
Game Day at Yawkey
Four pre game trains
• One Eastbound
• Three Westbound
20
Three Westbound Trains
after 8pm
Driving and Parking
Neither Easy nor Cheap
21
Four phase approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
22
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)
23
Institutional Strategies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
24
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
1. Kingston commuter rail service
2. Dedicated Providence/Attleboro commuter rail
service
3. Pre game commuter rail on existing trains from
South Station to Yawkey
4. Longer Green Line trains dedicated to post game
service
5. Improved post-game service to North Station
6. Express trains from Riverside
7. Coordinated commuter rail at Ruggles
8. Express bus service from Fenway connecting
with Red Line stations
25
Capital Strategies
1. Commuter rail turn-back station and train storage
2. Increase Green Line capacity at Fenway Station
3. Increase weeknight pre-game Green Line capacity
26
Ten Years After
•
•
•
•
•
•
27
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
28
Renovated Kenmore Station
29
•
•
•
•
•
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
30
New Yawkey Station
Air Rights Development
New longer two-track station
700 car parking structure
330 homes
~500,000 ft2 office and retail
31
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
David O. Nelson
32
Director of Transit Planning
Jacobs Engineering Group
Boston, Massachusetts