1 Take Me Out to the Ballgame Strategies to Improve Rail Transit Mode Share at Fenway Park David O. Nelson Director of Transit Planning Jacobs Engineering Group Boston, Massachusetts Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association Rail Operations: Planning for the Extremes Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia

2 About Fenway Park Built 1912 by the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club Americas Oldest Professional Sports Venue Seats 37,402 One of the four smallest stadiums in the major leagues Have sold out every game since May 2003

3 But, Fenway and the Red Sox have not always been so popular

4 Fenways Neighbors Longwood Medical & Academic Area Kenmore Square Boston University Back Bay Fenway Northeastern University Brookline Kenmore Square Longwood Medical & Academic Area Fenway Boston University Back Bay Brookline Northeastern University

5 Fenway Transportation Comm Ave Brookline Ave Storrow Drive Park Drive The Fenway Green Line –Kenmore –Fenway Worcester Line –Yawkey Orange Line –Ruggles Providence Line –Ruggles Longwood Ruggles Kenmore Fenway Yawkey Ruggles

6 Fenway Transit Hubs Kenmore Square B, C & D Lines Fenway Station D Line Yawkey Station Worcester Line Kenmore Fenway Yawkey

7 How do fans travel to Fenway? Drive and Park68% Rapid Transit or Bus24% Commuter Rail 2% Charter Bus 3% Walk 2% Other 1%

8 Increasing Transit to a Larger Fenway In 1999, the Boston Red Sox proposed to enlarge or replace Fenway with a 33% larger stadium. Fenways neighbors and City concerned about traffic impacts Study team systematically reviewed options to improve transit mode share to a larger venue

9 Four phase approach 1.Review of current plans 2.Literature review 3.Review of current services 4.Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

10 Four phase approach 1.Review of current plans 2.Literature review 3.Review of current services 4.Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

11 Fenway expansion transport plans Red Sox –Maintain current mode splits –Expand parking –Improve Kenmore Square and Green Line Kenmore Station –More cars on Green Line trains –Improvements to Green Line Fenway Station –Expanded commuter rail facilities and services at Yawkey Station –Improve connections to Orange Line Ruggles Station. City of Boston –Limit parking expansion –Improve transit mode share with Green Line and Commuter Rail

12 Four phase approach 1.Review of current plans 2.Literature review 3.Review of current services 4.Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

13 Literature Review 1.New York, Toronto and Boston lead MLB in transit mode share 2.Limited parking increases automobile occupancy rates and transit use 3.Superior transit contributes to transit demand peaking 4.Auto occupancy rates adversely impacted by good transit service 5.Traffic management after games is usually a bigger challenge than managing arriving crowds due to peaking 6.Good accessibility appears to increase attendance at games involving mediocre teams.

14 Four phase approach 1.Review of current plans 2.Literature review 3.Review of current services 4.Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

15 Pre Expansion Services Green Line –Public officials estimate that 24% of all fans use Green Line –13 post game extra cars –Extra collectors and supervisors Commuter Rail –Four special stops at Yawkey Station Local Bus –Two extra buses to Allston and Watertown –Local service routed off Brookline Avenue Orange Line –Red Sox Ruggles Shuttle Bus Police –12 to 14 transit police at Kenmore and Fenway

16 Fenway Park and The Green Line

17 About the Green Line Americas Oldest Subway ~240,000 boardings per day ~24,000 passengers per peak hour ~215 vehicles Kenmore Square 60 trains per peak hour Fenway (D Line) 12 eastbound trains per hour

18 Game Day at Kenmore Station

19 Game Day at Fenway Station 12 Eastbound Riverside Trains per Peak Hour

20 Game Day at Yawkey Four pre game trains One Eastbound Three Westbound Three Westbound Trains after 8pm

21 Driving and Parking Neither Easy nor Cheap

22 Four phase approach 1.Review of current plans 2.Literature review 3.Review of current services 4.Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

23 Strategies Identified and Evaluated Institutional (7) Operational (8) Capital (4)

24 Institutional Strategies 1.Bundled ticketing 2.Priority street access for MBTA buses 3.Post-game events in Fenway park 4.Local post-game events outside Fenway Park 5.Red Sox pre-game events at Riverside 6.Game day signage near Riverside 7.Subsidized transit for Red Sox employees and concessionaires

25 Operational Strategies 1.Kingston commuter rail service 2.Dedicated Providence/Attleboro commuter rail service 3.Pre game commuter rail on existing trains from South Station to Yawkey 4.Longer Green Line trains dedicated to post game service 5.Improved post-game service to North Station 6.Express trains from Riverside 7.Coordinated commuter rail at Ruggles 8.Express bus service from Fenway connecting with Red Line stations

26 Capital Strategies 1.Commuter rail turn-back station and train storage 2.Increase Green Line capacity at Fenway Station 3.Increase weeknight pre-game Green Line capacity

27 Ten Years After New Red Sox Ownership New stadium scrapped Two World Championships Nearly 800 consecutive sold out games 9% capacity expansion at historic stadium Expanded use of stadium for concerts & other events

28 Ten years of incremental improvements Renovated Kenmore Station –Improved rail and bus facilities –Improved facilities for game day crush –Improved fare collection system New Green Line cars –Larger, more reliable fleet Fenway Station improvements –Still planned Expanded commuter rail service –More everyday service to Yawkey and Ruggles Yawkey Station improvements –In design Yawkey Way and Lansdowne Street Festival Space Ruggles Orange Line Shuttle –Discontinued

29 Renovated Kenmore Station Larger Southside Head House Elevators and Escalators Expanded Mezzanine More Queuing Space Improved Fare Collection

30 Yawkey Way Festival Space More space for fans to: –Arrive sooner –Stay longer

31 New Yawkey Station Air Rights Development New longer two-track station 700 car parking structure 330 homes ~500,000 ft 2 office and retail

32 Take Me Out to the Ballgame Strategies to Improve Rail Transit Mode Share at Fenway Park David O. Nelson Director of Transit Planning Jacobs Engineering Group Boston, Massachusetts Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association Rail Operations: Planning for the Extremes Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia