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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 GroupBoston, Massachusetts

Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation AssociationRail Operations: Planning for the ExtremesTuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia

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About Fenway Park• Built 1912 by the

Boston Red Sox Baseball Club

• America’s 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

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

Fenway Attendence and Seating Capacity

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5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Seating CapacityAverage Crowd

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Fenway’s 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

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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

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Fenway Transit HubsKenmore Square• B, C & D Lines

Fenway Station• D Line

Yawkey Station• Worcester

Line

Kenmore

Fenway

Yawkey

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How do fans travel to Fenway?

Drive and Park 68%

Rapid Transit or Bus 24%

Commuter Rail 2%

Charter Bus 3%

Walk 2%

Other 1%

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Increasing Transit to a Larger Fenway

• In 1999, the Boston Red Sox proposed to enlarge or replace Fenway with a 33% larger stadium.

• Fenway’s neighbors and City concerned about traffic impacts

• Study team systematically reviewed options to improve transit mode share to a larger venue

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Four phase approach

1. Review of current plans

2. Literature review

3. Review of current services

4. Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

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Four phase approach

1. Review of current plans

2. Literature review

3. Review of current services

4. Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

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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

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Four phase approach

1. Review of current plans

2. Literature review

3. Review of current services

4. Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

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Literature Review1. 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.

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Four phase approach

1. Review of current plans

2. Literature review

3. Review of current services

4. Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

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Pre Expansion ServicesGreen 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

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Fenway Park and The Green Line

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About the Green Line• America’s 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

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Game Day at Kenmore Station

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Game Day at Fenway Station

12 Eastbound Riverside Trains per Peak Hour

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Game Day at YawkeyFour pre game trains• One Eastbound• Three Westbound

Three Westbound Trains after 8pm

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Driving and Parking

Neither Easy nor Cheap

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Four phase approach

1. Review of current plans

2. Literature review

3. Review of current services

4. Identify and evaluate expansion strategies

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Strategies Identified and Evaluated

Institutional (7)

Operational (8)

Capital (4)

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Institutional Strategies1. Bundled ticketing2. Priority street access for MBTA buses3. Post-game events in Fenway park4. Local post-game events outside Fenway Park5. Red Sox pre-game events at Riverside6. Game day signage near Riverside7. Subsidized transit for Red Sox employees and

concessionaires

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Operational Strategies1. Kingston commuter rail service2. Dedicated Providence/Attleboro commuter rail

service3. Pre game commuter rail on existing trains from

South Station to Yawkey4. Longer Green Line trains dedicated to post game

service5. Improved post-game service to North Station6. Express trains from Riverside7. Coordinated commuter rail at Ruggles8. Express bus service from Fenway connecting with

Red Line stations

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Capital Strategies1. Commuter rail turn-back station and train storage

2. Increase Green Line capacity at Fenway Station

3. Increase weeknight pre-game Green Line capacity

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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

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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

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Renovated Kenmore Station

• Larger Southside Head House• Elevators and Escalators• Expanded Mezzanine• More Queuing Space• Improved Fare Collection

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Yawkey Way Festival Space

More space for fans to: – Arrive sooner– Stay longer

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New Yawkey Station

Air Rights DevelopmentNew longer two-track station700 car parking structure330 homes~500,000 ft2 office and retail

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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 GroupBoston, Massachusetts

Annual Rail Meeting of the American Public Transportation AssociationRail Operations: Planning for the ExtremesTuesday, June 8, 2010 | 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia