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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEver Vail Transit Center Program 030810 EVER VAIL TRANSIT CENTER PROGRAM LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc. March 8, 2010 This memo presents a review of the existing and future need for bus bays in the Ever Vail development. This (s based in large part on the local and regional routes that will service the site, as well as expected future expansions of these services based upon regional growth. While the specific transit demand levels generated by Ever Vaii (to be evaluated separately) may well expand the need for bus runs in the future, these new runs will generaliy be scheduled so as to reduce frequencies by adding new service times, and thus will not materially impact the number of buses at Ever Vaii at any one time. Project Overview The Ever Vail project site is located on the western end of Vail, adjacent to the Lionshead area, and is roughly 0.38 miles in length. The proposed Ever Vail project incorporates a mixed-use plan. Major components of this plan include 358 residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail floor, 33,600 square feet of office floor,area, a 120-room hotel and 48 employee housing units. Parking is � also an important component of the plan, with a total of 1,551 parking spaces proposed for skiers, shoppers, residents and hotei guests; drop-off locations are also provided on both the west and east ends of the development. As a point of reference, overall Ever Vail development is planned to be comparable with today's level of development in Lionshead, ultimately providing 86 percent of the total number of units currently in Lionshead as well 115 percent of the commercial floor area. Also inciuded in the project plan is a transit center, with a proposed location along the I-70 Frontage Road near the eastern end of the project boundary. Note that the center will serve as a scheduled bus stop only, and will not be used for bus layovers, driver breaks, or as a transfer point between bus routes or as a transfer point between bus routes except to transfer to/from the In-Town Route. Existing Transit Services vail T�ansit The following Vail Transit routes would serve Ever Vail: . West Vail Green Route (Clockwise) and West Vail Red Route (Counterclockwise) — Currently two runs per hour are operated in each � Ever Vai/T�ansit Center Program Page 2 � direct' ion, fre uentl with shadow buses. At resent buses sto at the q Y P � p Cascade Crossing location west of Ever Vail area and West Lionshead Plaza to the east. Upon development, stops wili be located at the Ever Vail Transit Center. As shown in Table A, with the current schedule the two routes are offset from each other and thus could share two bays. . In-Town Route —This service does not operate on a set schedule, but rather buses are dispatched to provide consistent, short headways that vary with passenger demand. At the busiest times, buses can "bunch"due to loading delays, resulting in two buses at the�same stop in the same direction at times. At present, this route continues westbound through the East Lionshead area to West Lionshead before returning back through East Lionshead eastbound, skirting the edge of the Ever Vail project area. With the new development, the route will travel into the eastern end of Ever Vail, with a proposed stop along Market Street. With Ever Vail, some of the westbound shadow buses may terminate at Lionshead (allowing passengers to transfer to another nearby bus continuing on), in order to maximize the passenger capacity on the key load segments between Golden Peak and Lionshead. However, it is still expected that two In-Town buses will be onsite at Ever Vail on a frequent basis during peak perfods. ECO Transit ECO Transit is the regiona! bus system serving Vail, making connections as far as Gypsum and Leadville. Given the scope of the development, Ever Vail will become an important additional stop on the ECO Transit route system. At present service levels, it will be served by the following routes: • Edwards (Highway 6) — provides service between Edwards/Arrowhead and Vaii, with interim stops in Avon/Beaver Creek and Eagle-Vail. Using the existing schedule, it is estimated that Ever Vail could be served up to 4 times per hour in the peak morning and afternoon hours. . Gypsum/Eagle — provides service from Gypsum and Eagle to Vail, with stops in Edwards and Avon. An important stop along this route is the Eagle County Airport, which generates visitors to the Vail area. Per the existing ECO Transit schedule, service to Ever Vail is expected to reach up to two runs per hour, during peak times. • Minturn — provides direct service between Minturn and Vail. Given the existing schedule, Ever Vail is anticipated to be served by up to one run every hour during peak morning and afternoon times. Ever Vai/ Transit Center P�ogram Page 3 � . Leadville — provides service from Leadville to Avon, with intermediate stops in Minturn, Eagle-Vail and Vail. It is expected that Ever Vail will be served by up to two runs per hour during peak afternoon times (morning service is prior to the beginning of the peak activity period at 7:00 AM). In addition, until the 2009-10 winter season a Beaver Creek—Vail routes was also operated. While this route has been cut due to budget constraints, it can be expected that it wiil ultimately be reinstated; this route is therefore included in the inventory of existing services. As shown in Tables B and C, during the peak hour-long portion of the key AM commute period up to 10 individual service times wiil occur at Ever Vail, with up to li service times in the PM commute peak hour. Ex i consideration of shadow buses, four buses will be onsite within a five minute period around both 7:15 AM and 4:15 PM. ncl in shadow buses, four buses will also be onsite within five minute period around 8:25 AM and 6:10 PM, as well as five buses around 7:15 AM. Given the variation in actual route times, even if the shadow bus can be delayed to avoid also being at Ever Vail at the peak time, it will not uncommon for buses for four buses to be at Ever Vail at the same time. This figure can be reduced to three buses at one time, but only if buses are actively managed by delaying one or more buses as they � leave earlier stops. Shadow Buses It is important to note that Vail Transit as well as ECO Transit currently employ "shadow" buses on many routes in order to provide adequate passenger capacity at peak load times. Also known as"piggyback" or"firipper" buses, these additional buses are added as a second bus on a single scheduled run. This tends to be an appropriate way to provide a high quality of transit service during periods of particularly high demand. The use of shadow buses is a common occurrence in the peak winter season on the West Vail Red, West Vail Green and East Vail Routes on the Vail Transit system as well as on the ECO Transit Highway 6 and Gypsum/Eagle routes, provided largely inbound in the AM peak period as well as outbound in the PM peak period. Drivers in the AM peak period that notice their bus is reaching capacity will call the dispatcher, who will arrange for a shadow bus to be added at the next major stop and to serve the route into the Vail Transportation Center (VTRC). In the outbound direction, shadow buses are dispatched from the VRTC and serve the route until all passengers are dropped off. The result is the potential for more buses at a single stop, which could be the case during certain times at Ever Vail unless drivers and dispatchers carefully manage the service by delaying shadow buses to not arrive until earlier buses depart. � Eve� Vai/ Transit Center Pmgram Page 4 Charte�Bus Ser�ice Demand Counts conducted at the existing charter bus loading area in Lionshead indicate that 5 to 8 charter buses access the portal on peak days. (Note that these buses are in addition to charter buses providing service directly to lodging facilities in the Vail area.) At present, charter buses can be accommodated in the small (125'X 135� lot just southeast of the Uonshead parking structure. In addition to nat providing a good experience to arriving skiers (including a 1,500-foot walk to the nearest gondola), this site could potentially be eliminated due to redevelopment of the parking structure site. There clearly is a need for a long-term charter bus loading/unloading area within convenient walk distance of one of the mountain portals. Given that the bus activity at the Vail Transportation Center already exceeds the capacity at peak times, this is not a viable solution. Unless other options that provide good access to the mountain come forward, Ever Vail is the best available opportunity to develop a good site for charter bus passenger loading/unloading. Note that longer-term parking for charter buses over the course of the ski day need not occur at Ever Vail. Rather, buses can be parked elsewhere (such as a park or school site unused on peak ski days) and be onsite at Ever Vail only for the 10 to 15 minutes needed to unload or load skiers and their gear. This strategy would be enhanced by the availability of a comfortable waiting area for passengers at the end of the skI day. The number of bays needed to accommodate existing charter bus loading and unloading is two to three. Future Vail Transit Needs Demand for Vail Transit is expected to grow over the coming 20 years, though at a relatively low rate. While development will increase population and employment, housing affordability issues will limit the impact on commuting by bus completely within Vail. In addition, the development of expanded services at new mountain portals appears to have reduced the demand for intemal visitor transit use over recent years. Over the last several years, annual ridership has grown by a rough average of 1.2 percent per year. The high forecast level of future development in the Lionshead area (an 82 percent increase in the number of ladging/residential units and a 57 percent increase in commercial floor area) indicates that the demand for transit service to/from Lionshead will grow at a higher rate. A 2.5 annual rate of ridership growth, corresponding to roughly a 65 percent increase in ridership over a 20-year period, is assumed for this analysis. Eve� Vai/ Transit Cente�Program Page 5 � Currently, the West Vail Red and Green routes would serve Ever Vail twice per hour. With the expected increased demand on these routes, service frequency will ultimately be increased leading to the potential for four runs per hour serving Ever Vail, as shown in Table A. With expansion, the two routes will serve Ever Vail roughly two minutes apart which, given vagaries of travel time, will often result in buses on both routes being onsite at the same time. As a result, it is recommended that four bus bays be provided: two to accommodate the West existing Vail Red and Green routes, and two for future expansion. With growth in demand, and after completion of the Simba Run undercrossing, the service between the Village, Lionshead and West Vail could be reconfigured into a "Line Haul" route that provides express transit service at key stops along the corridor. In addition to Ever Vail, key high density/ridership stops on this route would be Vail Village, Lionshead, Timber Ridge and West Vail Commercial. (As an indication of the expected future growth that will contribute to the need for this new route, Timber Ridge is currently going through the development process to add up to approximately 350 additional transit passengers during the peak-hour.) A Line Haul Route would be in addition to the existing Red and Green Routes, which would continue to provide "local" service to each stop. This new route would reduce the need for shadow buses on the Red and Green Routes. As a result, the Line Haul route could be planned to effectively use one of the four routes otherwise allocated for the Red and Green Routes, and thus would not result in a need for an additional bay. future ECO Transit Needs Growth of ECO Transit ridership in the future is expected to be extensive. The ECO Transit Emp/oyment Unkage Study prepared by LSC Transportation Consultants in 2009 indicates a growth in peak winter daily ridership of roughly 45 percent between 2008 and 2013 (only a five year period). Projecting this further to a 20-year planning horizon is more difficult. One consideration is growth in population in the service area. State forecasts indicate that Eagle County will grow by 135 percent between 2000 and 2035, adding an additional 55,000 potential riders. Lake County, also served by ECO Transit, is forecast to grow by 166 percent (or 13,000 people). For purposes of this study a 20-year doubling of transit demand is assumed. As discussed above for the Vail Transit expansion, much of the resulting increase in the need for bus bays will take the form of increased service frequency that will not result in a corresponding increase in the number of ECO Transit buses � Eve� Vai/ T�ansit Center Prog�am Page 6 onsite in Lionshead at any one time. However, ECO Transit ridership is more focused on employment trips, which are more concentrated in the periods around employment start/stop times. Reviewing the existing schedule in light of this increased demand, a total of one additional bay should be provided to accommodate future growth in ECO Transit, for a total of five. This would minimize the need to delay buses to avoid exceeding the capacity of the Ever Vail transit bays. At a minimum, four bays should be provided (though this will require buses to be delayed along the route prior to Ever Vail). Futu�e Charter Bus Needs The demand for charter service can be expected to increase (up to double) over the next twenty years, for several reasons: . Population growth will increase the number of persons within a convenient drive distance of Vail. Most recent State estimates indicate that the Denver metro area will grow by 70 percent by 2035. . While gasoline prices have abated somewhat from previous year's highs, future prices in general are expected to be substantially higher than over past decades, increasing the attractiveness of intercity bus transportation as a cost-saving alternative to the private vehicle. . The "graying" of the population as the Baby Boom generation ages will substantially increase the proportion of the population (skier and non-skier} that may find quality intercity bus transportation to be preferable to driving. . There is an increasing acceptance across the nation of use of high-quality intercity bus service, expanding its potential "market" beyond the traditional rider groups. The Vail Transportation Plan (excerpt attached) identifies an ultimate future need to accommodate 15 ta 20 charter buses. Assuming that 20 charter buses need to be loaded over the course of an hour at the end of a ski day, and that each bus requires to be on-site for 10 to 15 minutes, the number of bays needed to accommodate existing charter bus loading and unloading is three to frve. Other Potential Bus Service Needs There are several other potential programs that could increase overall bus activity (and bus bay needs) in the Vail area in the future, including service from Summit County, service from the Roaring Fork Valley, as well as expansion of intercity bus service. However, the Vail Transportation Center is considered to � Ever Vai/ Transit Cente�P�ogram Page 7 � be the key hub for future regional service, and thus would not impact the need for bus bays at Ever Vail. Shuttle Van Service Uniess activity discouraged, it can be expected that some of the hotel shuttle van activity (generated by offsite hotels shuttling guests to a ski portal) will shift to Ever Vail from Lionshead, as the walk distance to the nearest gondola wil( be shorter. However, as Ever Vail plans will accommodate this use in the western portion of the project, they do not impact the program for the transit center area. Summary of Ever Vail Transit Facility Program Needs Based on the discussion above, Table D presents a summary of the number of vehicles that are recommended to be accommodated on site at peak times. As shown, the total number of public transit bays (Vail Transit plus ECO Transit) is calculated as follows: ■ For current Vail Transit services, 4 bus bays would be needed (including those for the In-Town Route). This would grow to 7 bays in the future. � • ECO Transit will require a minimum of 3 bays at current service levels (and preferably 4), increasing to a minimum of 4 (and preferably 5) in the future. ■ Charter bus service optimally should be provided with 3 bays at present, increasing to 5 in the future. A minimum of 2 at present and 4 in the future could function, though this would require careful schedufing of loading and unloading on peak days and could result in delays to individual groups of passengers. Excluding charter buses, a total of 8 public transit bus bays are recommended at the outset (including the two In-town bays), rising to 12 bays in 20 years. At a minimum, 7 public transit bays at present rising to 11 in 20 years will be necessary. Optimalfy, an additional 3 bus bays would be provided for charter service rising to 7. As an aside, the concept of diverting buses to stop along Market Street only when adequate space is not avaifable in the transit center is not recommended. While this may be adequate for deboarding passengers, passengers waiting for the bus would be in the wrong location, and would be left behind. Though it may be feasible for future versions of the site plan to provide designated stops Ever Vai/ Transit Center Program Page 8 for specific routes or services along Market Street, it is very important in terms of a functionai pubfic transit program for passengers to be assured that the designated location is where their bus will arrive. Market Street is also not recommended as a location for charter bus parking. As the noise and air emissions generated by charter buses are not as well regulated as for public buses, this use could result in negative impacts along the confined space along Market Street. A better strategy for accommodating charter buses is along the south side of the Frontage Road. Recommended Passenger Amenities Passenger amenities provided at the Ever Vail Transit Center should include the following: • Waiting area for approximately 160 total passengers, including 80 seats. This area wou(d preferably be located adjacent to the charter bus bays, with a view of the arriving buses. • Enclosed, heated waiting area for a minimum of 40 seated passengers. This is particularly important to accommodate the charter bus passengers, as these passengers tend to arrive at the end of the day a relatively long � time prior to their departure. Without bus storage on site, they should be provided with a comfortable waiting area adjacent to the charter bus loading area. ■ Floor space for a touchscreen information kiosk, as well as wall space for a flatscreen display of real-time bus arrival information. ■ Trash receptacles and recycfing receptacles. In addition, it is assumed that restrooms would be available within a convenient walk distance of the bus bays. Example Transit Center Layout The attached figure presents a conceptual layout of a transit center configuration that attains the program defined above, over the most current overall site plan. This fayout was developed as follows: ■ The two bays for the In-Town Route (labeled I1 and I2) are kept in the current location on the north-south road, except the bulbout in front of Ii is eliminated as it would not be physically feasible for a bus to depart I1 � Eve� Vai/Transit Cente�Program Page 9 � (and moving both bays to the south would intrude into the intersection to the south). ■ The one-way eastbound flow through the transit center was retained, as this reduces conflicts between vehicle movements and pedestrians and minimizes the area required around the entrance and exit af the transit center. ■ A tatal of 9 bus bays are provided within the transit center area (internal to the structure). Along with the 2 bays provided for the In-Town Route, this provides the minimum of 11 bays required for public transit services, without the need for any public buses to use the bays along the south side of the Frontage Road. ■ The potential length of a curbside bus bay along the south side of the Frontage Road was maximized, assuming that a minimum of Z5 feet af tangent would be necessary between the curb returns at the ends of the bus bay and the curb returns of the adjacent streets. This provides roughly 100 feet between the centerline of the adjacent streets and the closest portian of the nearest bus bay. This length is adequate far up to four charter buses (Bays C1 through C4), though these bays would not be � able to operate independently. For instance, a driver would not be able to enter Bay C4 if a bus is already in Bay C3, and a driver wishing to depart from Bay C3 could be hindered by the presence af a bus in Bay C4. This bay is recommended to be 15 feet in width, to allow buses to partially pull out of a bay before entering the eastbound travel lane in order to improve driver sight distance and provide eastbound cyclists wlth space to manewer between parked buses and eastbound vehicles. • Both a sawtooth arrangement and a straight curb arrangement were considered for Bays B1 — B4. The sawtooth arrangement is preferable as it allows independent operation of all bays. In addition, the straight curb arrangement was not found to yield any additional usable space. While this conceptual plan does not meet the long-term optimal program of 12 public transit bus bays plus 5 charter bus bays, the 11 public transit bus bays and 4 charter bus bays does attain the minimum program. Phasing of the Transit Center If This layout provides two options for phasing, if it is deemed preferable not to construct all bus bays at the outset. Under both of these options, Bays I1, I2, and A1 to AS would be constructed at the outset: � Ever Vai/ T�ansit Center Program Page 10 � • Under one option, the B Bays would be constructed at the outset while C Bays would not be constructed until needed. This would provide a total of li bays at the outset, sufficient to accommodate provide the 8 optimal near term public transit bays plus the 3 optimal charter bus bays. ■ Under the other option, the C Bays would be constructed at the outset. The 6 Bay island would initially be constructed at a minimal width (such as 8 to 10 feet) but full length. This would ailow sufficient space to the north to provide approximately 18 angled auto parking spaces along one side, which could be used for short term / skier drop-ofF uses. A total of 11 bus bays would be provided. At peak times, it would be necessary to designate one ECO Transit bus route to use a bay along the Frontage Road, which could cause delays if other bays are occupied by charter buses. If it is not feasible to construct all bus bays at the outset, the first phasing option is recommended as it provides less potential for delays to the public transit systems and shorter walk distances for transit passengers. � � � TABLE A: Vall Translt Peak Period Servlce b Ever Vail Excludlnyln-Town ShutGQ ■ Scheduled Bus �Shadow Bus in Peak Future Expanslon Bus Minutes Past the Hour West Vail Green West Vail Red Poek Porlod 5c45 AM to 8:15 M 8:00 AM fi 8:30 PM 0 1 '1 :f 4 0 8 ■ � 7 8 � � 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 � � 22 23 ■ � 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 � � 35 38 � � 37 38 � �p 39 4D 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 � � 52 53 ■ � 54 55 56 57 58 59 Source:Vail Transit 2008-09 Winter Schedule � , TABLE B: Existing Peak Morning Wlnter ECO Transit Service to Ever Vail ■ Scheduled Bus � Shadow Bus in Peak Time Edwards GypsuMEagle Leadville Mintum �voNBeaver Creek(1) 7:09 AM 7:10 AM 7:11 AM � 7:12 AM 7:13 AM 7:14 AM ■ ■ � 7:15 AM 7:16 AM ■ 7:17 AM 7:18 AM 7:32 AM 7:33 AM ■ � 7:34 AM 7:35 AM 7:38 AM 7:37 AM 7:38 AM 7:39 AM 7:40 AM ■ 7:41 AM 7:42 AM 7:43 AM ■ 7:44 AM 7:45 AM � 8:00 AM 8:01 AM 8:02 AM � 5:10 AM 8:11 AM 8:13 AM 8:14 AM ■ 8:15 AM 8:16 AM 8:20 AM 8:21 AM 8:22 AM � 8:23 AM 824 AM 8:25 AM ■ ■ � 8:26 AM 827 AM 8:28 AM 8:28 AM � 8:30 AM 8:31 AM 8:32 AM 8:33 AM 8:34 AM 8:35 AM 8:36 AM ■ � 6:37 AM 8:38 AM 8:39 AM 8:40 AM 8:41 AM 8:42 AM � 8:43 AM 8:44 AM ■ 8:45 AM Source:ECO Transit 2008-09 WirKer Schedule Note 1:Not o atl in 2009-10 wi�ter s�son,bul can be refnstated In the future. � � 7ABLE C:Existing Peak Aftemoon Wlnter ECO Tianslt Service to Ever Vall ■Scheduled Bus � Shadow Bus in Peak Time Edwerds w k LeadWle h4nhen AvorVBetverCrea 1 4:11 PM 4:12 PM � 4:13 PM � 4:14 PM ■ � 4:15 PM 4:18 PM 4:22 PM 423 PM 4:24 PM ■ 4:25 PM 4:28 PM 4:32 PM t:33 PM 4:30 PM � 4:35 PM 4:36 PM 4:42 PM 4:43 PM 4:4{PM ■ 4:45 PM 4:48 PM 4:47 PM � 4:18 PM 4:49 PM 6:50 PM 4:51 PM 4:52 PM ■ � 4:53 PM 4:54 PM � 4:55 PM 4:57 PM 4:58 PM � 4:58 PM ■ 5:00 PM 5.'01 PM 5:08 PM 5:09 PM 5:10 PM ■ 5:11 PM 5:12 PM 5:13 PM 5:14 PM � 5:15 PM 5:21 PM 5:22 PM ■ � � 523 PM 5:24 PM 5:25 PM 5:28 PM 5:31 PM ■ � 5:35 PM 5:38 PM 5:43 PM S:M PM ■ 5:45 PM 5:46 PM 5:52 PM 5:53 PM 5:54 PM � 5:55 PM B:OB PM 6:08 PM 8:08 PM � 8:10 PM ■ ■ ax 6:11 PM 8:12 PM 8:17 PM 8:18 PM ■ � 6:19 PM 620PM Soume:ECO Traroit 2f1060B WIMer SchedWe NoM 1:Not retl In 2009-10 winier eeason,but an bs rslrotalstl In the firiure. � TABLE D: Ever Vail Transit Bays Bus Ca aci Transit Service Near Term 2p Years Vail Transit Subtotal: Green and Red 2 3 Line Haul Route 0 1 Intown Route 2 2 Total Vail Transit 4 7 ECO Transit Optimal 4 5 Minimum 3 4 Tota/Public Trans/t Bays Optirnal g 12 � Minimum 7 �� CharteNFront Range Buses Optimal 3 5 Minimum 2 3 � f � P a � � � � � � � � � �N z�� �� . � � � � & ,�,���;,^" '� ,y'y � �. � � � ` �°: � � � �.,.; o � � . s � - E� . 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