managing travel for planned special events - FHWA Operations ...

tern of ingress and egress to achievemaximum street system capacity. Thequandary with pick-ups and drop-offsconcerns accommodating two-way vehicletravel, departing traffic during eventingress and arriving traffic during eventegress.o First, recognize these motorists willencounter resistance only in exitingthe immediate site area during ingressand vice versa during egress.They likely will travel in the oppositedirection of peak flow on freewayand arterial corridors serving theevent venue.o Second, vehicles may have to turnaroundafter a pick-up/drop-off.• The utilization of off-street parking areasfor taxi and limousine event serviceeliminates taxi/limo cruising at the endof a planned special event. For example,limousine drivers would have to meettheir customers after the event and escortthem back to the parked limousine. Thisstrategy has proven successful at reducingpedestrian/limousine conflicts at intersectionsnear the Staples Center inLos Angeles, CA. (4)• For private vehicles, an off-street lotprovides a convenient meeting location.• Pick-up and drop-off area capacityrepresents another key concern that practitionersmust address.• A queuing system, discussed in the nextsection on parking area design and operation,can describe the operation ofpick-up/drop-off areas for taxis anddrop-off areas for private automobiles,limousines, and buses.• In the case of pick-ups involving privateautomobiles, limousines, and buses, theevent planning team must designate anoff-site parking area of sufficient capacity,as determined through a parking demandanalysis, to stage vehicles operatedby drivers intending to pick-up a specificevent patron(s). In an effort to avoidconflict with heavy egress traffic, or as aclient courtesy, drivers typically arrive ata designated pick-up area before the endof the event.• Practitioners can estimate and comparethe service rate (vehicles per hour) of alllanes comprising a particular pickup/drop-offarea to the peak arrival rateof traffic using the area. The serviceflow rate for one lane equals one hourdivided by the time to process (i.e., servicetime) one vehicle pickingup/dropping-offevent patrons. If an averagepick-up/drop-off service time istwo minutes, then the service rate of onelane equals 30 vehicles per hour (60minutes divided by 2 minutes per vehicle).o Personnel assigned to monitor pickup/drop-offarea operation on theday-of-event can enforce a particularservice time or length of time a particularvehicle can stay in the pickup/drop-offarea.• Note that a pick-up/drop-off area queuingsystem operates stochastically. Trafficarrival rates will vary, and individualservice times that collectively determinethe service rate will also vary.• To handle a potential overflow situationat a pick-up/drop-off area, prohibit parkingon the access road adjacent to thepick-up/drop-off area, and cone (whennecessary) a vehicle stacking lane alongthe access road shoulder.Parking Area EgressTwo basic strategies surround parking areaegress operations. These contrasting strategiesinclude: (1) preserving adjacent streetflow and (2) effecting rapid parking areaunloading. Several important considerationsinclude:• Regardless of strategy, planners shouldlocate parking area access points as far6EVENT PROFILE POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES DAY-OF-EVENT ACTIVITIES ADVANCE PLANNINGOVERVIEW6-19