Date: June 1, 2019
Author(s): Adam Russell
Abstract
Highway infrastructure can be a significant barrier to transit access and an impediment to a safe and comfortable transit trip experience. Dark underpasses discourage walking, and curved on-ramps create dangerous conflicts between drivers and people walking or biking. As such, areas surrounding highways can be priority pathways for first/last mile improvements, which is in turn complicated by the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) management of highway right-of-way. In planning first/last mile infrastructure improvements, Metro’s First/Last Mile Planning program must coordinate with Caltrans to understand traffic and freight factors in a station area and implement any first/last mile interventions. Past first/last mile planning efforts, such as those along the Metro Blue Line, have encountered difficulty in changing streets at highways to create safer pathways for people walking or biking. In Los Angeles County, though, more than two-thirds of rail and busway stations are within a half-mile of a highway, meaning that improved interagency coordination and safer street designs must be an integral part of expanding first/last mile transit access.
About the Project
In considering how transit riders must walk or bike near highways to reach transit stations, highway infrastructure becomes a significant barrier to transit access and an impediment to a safe and comfortable transit trip experience. As such, areas surrounding highways can be priority pathways for first/last mile improvements, which is in turn complicated by the California Department of Transportation’s management of highway right-of-way. In planning first/last mile infrastructure improvements, Metro’s First/Last Mile Planning program must coordinate with Caltrans to understand traffic and freight factors in a station area and implement any first/last mile interventions. This study examined three case study station areas for common first/last mile barriers at highways and interviewed staff to understand inter-agency coordination experiences. It finds that policies, such as criteria that dictate when to include Caltrans in planning processes, that seek to yield predictability in both inter-agency communication and first/last mile improvement design can aid in overall coordination at highway-adjacent sites.