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Volpe Center Highlights - September/October 2003

Focus

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment
Security | Organizational Excellence | Awards | Published and Presented

North Bridge in Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Mass., is the site of the "shot heard 'round the world" and the opening battle of the American Revolution. Important historic sites such as this can be jeopardized by the effects of increased vehicle traffic in and around national parks. The Volpe Center is actively engaged in NPS efforts to provide efficient park access while preserving natural and cultural resources for future generations. Projects range from individual park traffic studies to a system-wide transportation plan. (NPS photo)

Resolving Transportation Challenges In and Around National Parks (NPS)

Every year more people visit our national parks to explore nature and learn about U.S. history and culture. In fact, 285 million people -- equivalent to the entire U.S. population -- visit national parks annually, and that number is expected to increase to 367 million by 2020. Growing visitation not only strains existing park transportation systems, but the resultant vehicle traffic and pollution can spoil visitor experience and threaten precious natural and cultural resources.

Accordingly, the National Park Service (NPS) is exploring new ways of planning for and providing transportation that will help meet its dual mission: to protect the extraordinary sites in its care while providing for public access and enjoyment. Alternative transportation systems (ATS) provide viable options to private vehicles, and can integrate all means of travel within and around a park. In 2000, the Volpe Center began supporting the NPS, in particular the Alternative Transportation Program, in addressing complex transportation issues, applying an integrated approach to ensure efficient, cost-effective, environmentally sound projects. Beginning with a project at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, this work has ranged from park traffic studies to multi-site master plans, to the first NPS-wide, long-range transportation plan.

Integrated Alternative Transportation Planning
In 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) provided increased opportunities for the NPS to implement sustainable transportation. A new approach was needed -- one that enabled parks to coordinate their efforts with other stakeholders, such as regional and state planning agencies and local communities. In 2001, the Volpe Center was called on to help guide the NPS Alternative Transportation Planning process as well as train NPS personnel to follow the process. And several times a year, NPS asks Volpe to help assess a particular project's progress and make recommendations for planning, development, and implementation.

Additionally, Volpe teams are working on ATS planning projects for several NPS units. Key issues include:

• Park access
• Vehicle/visitor circulation
• Visitor experience
• Regional transportation links
• Visual impact
• Land use/environmental impacts
• Parking management
• Stakeholder interests.

Solving Complex Problems
Cape Cod's regional population triples every summer and its year-round population is the fastest growing in the Northeast; therefore, transportation is a high-profile issue with many stakeholders. Volpe collaborated with the NPS -- and worked in concert with nearby towns and statewide, regional, and local organizations -- to develop a 25-year plan encompassing both operational and limited capital improvements for alternative transportation to, from, and within the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Volpe has developed several water transportation plans, including a master plan for sites in and around Boston Harbor.

Some parks pose particularly complex operational challenges. To improve access to four diverse NPS units around Boston Harbor, a Volpe team developed a water-based transportation master plan. The Volpe Center produced a framework for linking the units via ATS to simplify park visits, especially multi-site trips, and help alleviate traffic congestion and pollution.

Another NPS unit with a wide range of settings, the National Parks of New York Harbor, covers 26,000 acres in the heart of the New York metropolitan area, encompassing a network of sites including the Statue of Liberty, various Manhattan sites, and the Gateway National Recreation Area. Volpe produced a waterborne transportation study of the area, including a preliminary ferry service concept plan. The next phase will provide in-depth analyses of land-side ferry access, ridership forecasts, fee structures, finances, traffic management, operations, and facilities planning.

Contributing to a City's Revival
Volpe recently completed a planning study to help Lowell National Historical Park, the City of Lowell, Massachusetts, and other partners assess opportunities for implementing a light-rail system reminiscent of the city's late 19th/early 20th century trolley lines. The city is experiencing an economic resurgence, and the proposed system, which uses the park's existing line as a backbone, is designed to improve mobility downtown, where streets are narrow and auto congestion is common. The Center is now engaged in follow-on planning and environmental assessment.

A Volpe-developed planning study proposes to implement a light rail system that serves the City of Lowell as well as the Lowell National Historical Park and employs trolleys similar to that shown above. (Photo by Kevin Harkins, courtesy of Lowell National Historical Park.)

Maintaining Historic Character
The historic character of a park unit can be jeopardized by traffic congestion, especially when heavily traveled roads or trails are also historic sites. For example, the main road used for traveling among various sites in Minute Man National Historical Park in Massachusetts -- Route 2A, or "the Battle Road" -- is an historical landmark itself. Volpe prepared a traffic study that examined traffic conditions and projections in the context of the anticipated expansion of a nearby airport and growth in the surrounding Massachusetts communities. This study formed the technical basis for a shuttle feasibility study that Volpe is currently conducting.

Every year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Gettysburg National Military Park. Although it surrounds the Borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the park is not linked to the town by public transportation; during peak summer visiting periods, the town and park suffer from heavy traffic congestion and overflow parking. The Volpe team proposed a shuttle service for the park and surrounding communities and identified key issues related to implementation and operation.

Volpe staff worked with the NPS Denver Service Center (DSC), which is in charge of planning a transportation hub facility for the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites (above). The DSC is the NPS centralized planning, design, and construction project management office. (Image courtesy of Mark Tabor, NPS DSC)

The Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites in New York comprise four separate sites linked by congested suburban roadways. Visitors rely on cars; transit options and parking are limited. Volpe identified ATS options and specified route configuration, service frequency and type, vehicles, and infrastructure requirements. The Center is now performing a shuttle feasibility study.

Mitigating Suburban Sprawl
In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Valley Forge and Morristown National Historical Parks both grapple with a problem that is familiar to many communities -- their formerly rural settings are now suburban population centers. Surrounded by commercial and residential development, scenic park roads have become congested commuter routes. To help alleviate the stress on vulnerable historic sites, natural resources, and park vicinities, the Volpe Center collaborated with local stakeholders in performing traffic studies for both parks. Shuttle feasibility studies will offer additional options for congestion relief.

Helping Travelers Plan Meaningful Park Visits
Traveler information systems (TIS) are valuable tools that provide real-time transit and traffic information -- when the next bus will arrive, levels of road congestion, travel time from point A to point B, or how many parking spaces are left at the beach. The Volpe Center designs systems to help national park visitors plan enjoyable visits.

One product of Volpe's TIS project at Yosemite National Park is a network flow model. The screen shot above shows evening peak-hour traffic flow (the yellow segment depicts the congestion near Yosemite Falls), and the route of the shuttle bus. (View larger image.)

At Yosemite National Park, the first phase of a TIS project includes a traffic data needs assessment, creation of a network-based travel demand model, and preparation for multimodal traffic simulation. Future phases may include design, installation, and operation of a TIS that would assist traffic circulation analysis, daily park operations, information distribution, emergency traffic management, and ATS management and operations.

For the Massachusetts National Parks, Volpe is developing physical and electronic ways to help visitors plan trips to 18 NPS units that document a range of significant periods and events in the nation's history. A multidisciplinary Volpe team is developing a web-based TIS that goes beyond "how to get there" and helps users plan their visits in an historical or cultural context. For example, a visitor could plan a trip to visit Revolutionary War sites in chronological order, or visit sites related to the role of women in the Industrial Revolution. The system will show visitors how to use public transit to navigate among the various park sites, most of which have been integrated into the local transit system's trip planner. The team is also developing an alternatives analysis to help determine the optimal location for a Visitor Transportation Hub that will serve as a gateway to the Massachusetts Parks.

The Volpe-developed parking management system (PMS) for Sandy Hook is integrated with the traveler information system. As shown above: PMS counts vehicles entering and leaving parking lots. Traffic counts from 9 lots are radioed to a central computer at the ranger station. As lots fill, rangers update park entrance staff, who inform visitors about parking. When PMS predicts that the lots will be full within 30 minutes, potential visitors can be notified by: Highway Advisory Radio announcements to travelers en route. Notices on two portable dynamic message signs along NJ Route 36. A dozen nearby traffic agencies via TRANSCOM.

Volpe developed a parking management system and TIS for the Sandy Hook unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey, which experiences severe roadway and parking lot congestion during the summer season. Park staff use parking management technology to monitor lot capacity; when lots are nearly full, en route travelers are notified via highway advisory radio and changeable message signs. The parking management system supports the Route 36 Congestion Management Plan prepared by the metropolitan planning organization in cooperation with a dozen traffic agencies and the park.

New Ways of Planning for the Future
The size and scope of the National Park Service present unique transportation needs. NPS recognizes that achieving its vision of an efficient, sustainable transportation system will require comprehensive plans that help its transportation program managers effectively articulate and demonstrate progress toward this vision. In cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and in consultation with the Federal Transit Administration, the Volpe Center is helping the NPS develop its first service-wide, long-range transportation plan. The goal is not a prescriptive regulatory document, but rather an overarching policy framework and general guidance regarding transportation in the National Parks.

Under a new pilot program, the Volpe Center will perform a needs analysis of short-term transportation issues for the NPS Northeast Region, which stretches from Virginia to Maine. The Volpe team will determine opportunities for: ATS; connections with existing regional transit operations; transportation links among park units; and mitigation of emerging issues, such as increasing traffic congestion in formerly rural areas.

The Volpe Center supports the NPS vision of a sustainable transportation system that will enable the public's enjoyment of our National Parks for generations to come.

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