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Volpe Center Highlights - March/April 2002

Mobility

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment
Economic Growth | National Security | Papers and Presentations

Planning Alternative Transportation for the Morristown National Historical Park (NPS)

Morristown National Historical Park preserves sites in the Morristown, New Jersey area occupied by General George Washington and the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War from 1779-1780. The Ford Mansion, above, was General Washington's military headquarters during that winter. The Volpe Center is working to help the Park preserve and protect its natural and cultural resources by evaluating public transit alternatives for the Park and its surrounding community. (NPS photo)

The mission of the National Park Service (NPS) is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. However, the Park Service must also provide public access to the resources that it is dedicated to protecting. Growing visitation, traffic congestion, and greater awareness of environmental issues have put pressure on transportation infrastructure in the National Parks and their surrounding areas. The level and impact of park visitation has often far exceeded planners' estimates; visitors driving their individual, private vehicles can adversely impact a park or its surrounding region's natural and/or cultural resources.

To address these issues, many National Parks have introduced Alternative Transportation Systems (ATS) to help reduce traffic congestion, alleviate environmental impacts, and provide a more enjoyable visitor experience. Volpe staff recently conducted an ATS Planning Study for the Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown, New Jersey. The Volpe team includes Dr. Jeff Bryan, Ms. Cassandra Callaway, and Mr. David Spiller of the Office of System and Economic Assessment, and Mr. Bill Giezentanner of Planners Collaborative (a Volpe Center contractor).

In 1933, Congress designated lands and properties in the Morristown area as the first National Historical Park in the National Park System. The Park consists of four units that played important roles during the American Revolutionary War. Located less than 30 miles west of New York City, Morristown has become much more than an area of historical significance. Today, it is a tree-lined bedroom suburb of New York City, a growing employment center, and home to a rich diversity of historical, cultural, and recreational attractions. A growing economic base combined with significant residential and commercial development has left the town and county struggling to cope with the resulting traffic congestion. Several efforts are underway to explore regional transit services and rerouting of traffic through Morristown's central business district to cope with the increasing traffic in the area.

The four Park units combined attract approximately 536,000 visitors annually; 98 percent of those visitors arrive by personal vehicle.

Within this context, the NPS asked the Volpe Center to define and evaluate alternatives for providing public transit for visitors to the Park and other sites in Morristown. The ATS Planning Study resulted in a clear outline of potential ATS routes and system management options to meet the Park's objectives. Additionally, Volpe laid out potential benefits of ATS, including assisting in the protection of the Park's natural and cultural resources, improving visitor safety, enhancing the experience of visiting the units and other sites in the Morristown area, as well as reducing overall traffic congestion.

In October, 2001, members of the Volpe team presented the ATS Planning Study's findings and recommendations to the Park and a group of local stakeholders. Participants voiced strong interest in proceeding collaboratively with planning an ATS for Morristown. Over the next few months, stakeholders will convene again to identify and address issues related to planning an ATS, with the intent of conducting a pilot program to test the feasibility of an ATS for Morristown.

Water Transportation Planning (State of Massachusetts)

A ferry in Boston Harbor.

The Volpe Center provides expertise in marine transportation to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Park Service, the U.S. Navy, and the State of Massachusetts by analyzing the commercial viability of ferry service as an alternative to land-based systems in congested areas. For the State of Massachusetts, the Center is working with the Executive Office of Transportation Construction on the analysis of potential ferry and water-shuttle routes in the Massachusetts Bay Area. The results will be used to make strategic decisions for future water-transportation capital projects.

On January 25, 2002, Mr. Michael Dyer of the Technology Applications and Deployment Division hosted the Water Transportation Advisory Council Focus Group at the Volpe Center. The Group includes ferry and terminal owners and operators, port managers, stakeholders, and state transportation planners and regulators. The meeting addressed the technical aspects of the Center's work, including the development of a Service Assessment Tool with economic, technical, and policy elements; an approach to the selection of ferry services; and data collection.

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