PARK-AND-RIDE IN THE SHIRLEY HIGHWAY CORRIDOR

The market for fixed-route transit operations is not limited to travelers living within walking distance of transit stops. As demonstrated by the Shirley Highway Express-Bus-on-Freeway Project, well- planned park-and-ride operations can lead to sizeable increases in bus patronage. Park-and-riders, commuters who travel by automobile to a bus stop and then by bus to work, greatly expanded the market for the fixed-route bus service in the Shirley Highway corridor. After briefly describing the park-and-ride arrangements in this suburban corridor, this paper presents the reuslts of an investigation of the perceptions and mode choice influences of the park-and-riders at two new lots. On-board surveys were used to determine the importance of 12 factors in the commuter's decision to switch from automobile to park-and-ride bus service. The users' subjective satisfaction assessments for these factors and their reported travel-time and costs savings (or losses) were also obtained. These results suggest that several factors in addition to time and cost should be considered in planning park-and-ride facilities. /Author/