TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM
Summary
Research Goals and Objectives
The objectives of this research were to (1) evaluate the potential for rehabilitating and reconstructing portions of interstate freeways and similar freeways in the urbanized areas in the United States as new paradigm multimodal transportation facilities and (2) develop strategies to plan and implement these facilities. These facilities might be better used by people, if the facilities offer passenger mobility by multiple modes and are better integrated into
communities.
A New Paradigm for Multimodal Corridors
Our transportation system and the communities that depend on it are facing serious challenges. People are stuck in traffic—consuming oil, polluting the air, and wasting time. Our transportation infrastructure is aging and inadequate under the weight of increasing travel demand. Our automobile-dominant transportation system becomes inefficient and ineffective during peak hours and emergencies—the times when it is needed most. Public transit is often too slow and limited in coverage to attract automobile users.
This report presents a new paradigm for planning, designing, building, and operating multimodal corridors—freeways and high-capacity transit lines running parallel in the same travel corridors (hereafter called “multimodal corridors”). The new paradigm emphasizes building transit lines and supporting pedestrian and bicycle facilities with the following goals:
- Enhancing corridor transportation capacity and performance without adding freeway capacity, by building and operating transit lines (including bus rapid transit, light rail, heavy rail and commuter rail)
- Building and operating successful transit systems in multimodal corridors that attract high transit ridership and encourage livability and environmental sustainability
- Transforming a corridor’s land uses and activities to a more transit-oriented pattern.
The old paradigm developed transit lines to compete directly with their freeway neighbors for long-haul corridor trips and as a congestion reliever service. New paradigm multimodal corridors provide market segmentation—distinct, separated, and optimized travel markets for each mode—between the transit line and freeway.
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