Park-and-ride (P&R) lots are a common element of modern transportation systems in mid- to large-size urban areas across North America and they are increasing in popularity in Great Britain and Europe. The Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (VTA), serving the San Jose, California area, is sponsoring a study that seeks to integrate the traditional concept of P&R facilities with the rapidly advancing world of intelligent transport systems (ITS). The result is an innovative “smart” P&R facility, or “Smart Park” for short. The Smart Park is intended to also incorporate joint development and secondary uses in the design of these innovative facilities, resulting in a more dynamic concept in transit access.

As part of the project, PB is developing three prototype Smart Parks for VTA to be implemented in conjunction with extensions of their existing light rail transit system. The Smart Park concept and prototype VTA lots represent the future of intermodal P&R facilities and can serve as innovative models for future ITS integration with P&R.

Two case studies in which P&R or intermodal station facilities and ITS technologies have been integrated successfully include Munich, Germany, and the West Midlands, Great Britain. These two examples suggest several benefits from incorporating ITS within a P&R network. These benefits, which are desired for inclusion in the VTA Smart Park concept, include:

• Improved lot and system efficiency
• Expanded awareness of the P&R facility
• Improved route planning capabilities for the user.

The VTA Smart Park Concept

The Smart Park concept developed for the VTA project is defined as a park-and-ride facility or system capable of both receiving dynamic information from the regional transport control system and providing feedback to a regional travel operations and control center. Smart Parks will represent full service multimodal facilities and be well coordinated with the surrounding development patterns, providing opportunities for joint development and privatization.

The ITS component of the Smart Park concept includes the ability to provide information to the user at all points within the trip: at home, en route to the P&R facility, within the lot, on the transit vehicle, etc. In order to support these communication requirements, an ITS infrastructure is required that is capable of tracking individual transit vehicles and detecting and managing recurring and incident-related traffic congestion.

The passenger interface of this ITS infrastructure (e.g., the communications component) is perhaps the most important aspect of the system from the perspective of the passenger. A key assumption incorporated in the VTA Smart Parks project is the need to provide information to potential users in as many formats as possible, realizing the diverse data needs of the traveling community. Hence, a high-tech computerized kiosk located at an intermodal facility represents only one proposed method for providing communications to the transit patron.

It is unlikely that ITS technologies can change a “bad” P&R lot into an overnight success. Rather, it is more likely that ITS technologies can make a “good” P&R lot more user friendly and more efficient. “Good” P&R facilities, as demonstrated by a high demand to capacity ratio, are well situated within the urban environment, accessible to travelers, safe and convenient and they provide a high level of transit service. ITS technologies enhance these facilities by reducing transit users’ anxiety about when the next transit vehicle will arrive and by providing trip planning assistance in determining alternate routes. ITS technologies can also improve the efficiency of the facility by directing patrons to available parking spaces and providing a more efficient fare-collection process, and they can improve the security of the facility.

We envision that different levels of ITS integration will be appropriate for various P&R facilities of the VTA Smart Parks project, depending on each facility’s size and characteristics. Three levels of integration are proposed for implementation in the South Bay region:

• Premium P&R facility with a high degree of ITS integration
• Medium sized P&R facility with moderate ITS integration
• Small P&R or park-and-pool (P&P) lot with modest ITS integration.

This approach assumes that as the proposed P&R facility increases in size and quality, it will become more economical to incorporate a higher level of ITS infrastructure in the design. All three levels of P&R facilities are expected to provide basic links to the Silicon Valley Smart Corridor, once completed.

Figure 1: Proposed Winchester Smart Park

Winchester P&R (A Prototype Premium Smart Park)

Perhaps the best explanation of the Smart Park concept is by illustration of the proposed VTA Winchester P&R. Located within a smart highway corridor, the Winchester site is designated as a future station for a light rail transit line. It lies adjacent to two well traveled roadways and a highway intersection. It would serve patrons of commuter buses serving the San Jose central business district, local transit and future LRT (Figure 1). At the proposed Winchester site, patrons will have access to a wide range of ITS communication media including:

• Electronic information kiosk (smart kiosk), providing real-time trip planning capabilities, voice link to dispatcher, touch-screen query capabilities, travel time information, on-screen roadway and transit travel time comparisons, and ride match services
• Electronic green-yellow-red LED route status boards, providing information to users on the status of approaching buses by route (i.e., a green light would indicate a bus within five minutes, yellow would indicate a bus within 10 minutes, etc.)
• Bus approaching/service alert signs, providing warning alerts that show patrons when the next bus will be arriving or departing
• Variable message signs (VMS) on approach highway corridors, providing both transit and highway options to travelers using congested highway networks
• On-lot electronic or LED space available indicators, providing information to entering patrons on the availability and location of parking spaces
• At-home access to Smart Park data via the Internet, indicating the availability of space at various P&R lots, the status of the routes serving the lots, and general travel information.

Once the full Silicon Valley Smart Corridor is implemented, the ability to track individual transit vehicles within the smart corridor, communicate between park-and-ride facilities and between transit vehicles, and provide interaction between the regional traffic management system and the transit operator will be available. Initial implementation of the smart corridor may be limited in scope, however. The Smart Park concept will have to remain flexible so that a basic level of “smart” service can be provided during the initial stages of smart corridor implementation. As the smart corridor matures and expands in capabilities, so can the ITS services provided at the Smart Parks.

Conclusions

ITS technologies represent a new tool in advancing the marketability of P&R in the urban and suburban environment. ITS technologies can be used to provide information to travelers, both on the approach roadways and within the facility itself. Still other ITS technologies can be used to manage the transportation system, collect fares, and assure a more efficient transit system. When incorporating ITS in P&R facilities, it is important to provide a range of media for use by patrons in recognition of the fact that not all patrons will be comfortable with the latest in high-tech communication terminals.

As part of an integrated P&R/ITS system, intelligent technologies provide a tool to reduce the investment risk involved in park-and-ride lot development by allowing incremental investments in smaller lots (as opposed to large single-lot P&R based systems). Smaller lots, which can be cheaper to implement, can be linked together using ITS communication technologies into an integrated system of lots—reducing the need for capital intensive large lot development. With incremental development of smaller lots, the implementing agencies can better manage their investments to gain positive public image each time a successful new lot is added to the system of integrated lots.