Kyle Field Gameday Transportation Plan

July 24, 2014

Texas A&M Transportation Institute(with TAMU Transportation Services, City of College Station, City of Bryan, BCS Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Bryan Association, TAMU Athletics, 12th Man Foundation,

TxDOT, Safety and Law Enforcement Agencies)

• Ability to handle crowds 25% to 30% larger• Clear congested area in 2 hours – Give “leavers” a route out of town; return to

normal peak operation as soon as possible• Substantially reduce intense congestion• Better and more timely information (and static

maps and lists if no bandwidth connection)• Increase awareness of BCS dining, hotel and

entertainment options

What Have We Accomplished?

• Traffic and bus routing changes• Better signalization and contraflow lanes• Safer pedestrian paths• Shuttle bus routes• Pre-pay parking; more efficient entry• Smartphone app

Key Message: Know Your Options!

How Will That Happen?

What Happened? 2013 Alabama Post-GameSource: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

How Do We Know If It Worked?

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

Aggieland Post Game Traffic% of System Congested

From 30 Minutes Prior to Game End (4:30 p.m. for Average Day)

Alabama

Auburn

SMU

Rice

Average Day

End of Game

Estimated 2014(Revised)

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

How Do We Know If It Worked?

Source: TTI Analysis of Freese and Nichols Study Data

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%Aggieland Pre-Game Traffic

% of System Congested

Alabama

Auburn SMU

Kickoff

-- - - - -- - -- -

Average Day

-From 6 Hours Prior to Kickoff (4:30 p.m. for Average Day)

What Will It Take For Buses?• Fans riding – 8,000 from off-campus,

10,000+ from parking lots – 35,000 capacity for 2014 (21K total rides Bama ’13) – Auburn & Penn State ~ 20K to 25K rides total

• Relies on ‘mostly bus’ lanes and traffic control officers to improve productivity

• Entire fleet will be used (buses are old, operations will be difficult, but achievable)

• Getting bids for 10 charter buses to accommodate more riders

What Will It Take For Parking?• Use available campus parking spaces; Same

percentage will park off-campus as in 2013• Need: All-weather parking – gravel for 2014 to 2018– Three lots – approx $1.2 million (~2,700 spaces)

• Longer term – more…..– Garages, Shuttle buses, Premier RV park

What Will It Take For Pedestrians?

• Coordinated with parking and traffic flow system – enhancing the gameday experience

• Need: Wellborn underpass improvements – improve safety and make West Campus Garage an asset– Pedestrian fence and path - $75,000

• Wayfinding signs in North End Zone area

What Will It Take For Streets?Needs: • Wellborn Rd - overhead signs? electronic system?– 2014 cost sharing (TAMU-CS) for operations

• Signal system and real-time communication improvements: CS - $3M; Bryan - $250,000+

• Connections to East Kyle Command Center • Possible:– 3rd southbound FM 2818 lane? ~$1 M– Kimbrough pedestrian underpass? ~$1M to $2M

• Pedestrian Safety is Job #1• Less Congestion is Job #1A • “Know your options” – Websites, smartphone

app and mailings (plan ahead!)• Return to normal operation soon• Improve the game weekend experience• Monitor and evolve during season

“We can’t be better if we do the same”

Summary

• Added lanes on Wellborn Rd – Also improves West Campus Garage and South of Kyle traffic

• Improved signal timing– Address bottleneck points– More green time for outbound; Some turns not allowed – Shorter cycles, phases & more efficient green time

• Use green time into Bryan • Suggested paths to restaurants, hotels, etc.• Blue – pedestrians; Green – cars; Pink – off-peak traffic

Yellow – buses

Exit Corridor Plans

Plan ahead and we can get you there!

12th Man parkers enter from Bush

Visitors enter from Stotzer and University

Where are you going after the game?

Are you tailgating?Consider active

pedestrian areas

What Route Will You Use To Leave?….And When?

Tailgate?Tour? Celebrate?

Learn the New ElementsDiscovery DriveKimbrough BlvdOlsen BlvdWellborn Road

West Campus Exits and Bus Routes

West Campus Garage Area

2014 Pedestrian Path Extension: Aerial View

Construction Fencing

New, Wider P

edestrian Path

Garage vehicle traffic

Remove front row of parking on gamedays.

West Campus GarageAll Other Lots

Wellborn Underpass at West Campus Garage – Fence Design TBD

USE ALL

FOURLANES

What Will We See in

2014?• Intersection

changes• Signal timing• Shuttle buses• Warnings

For 2015 and Beyond ….

Downtown Houston• 150,000 workers• 7 Freeways

Kyle Field Gameday• 120,000+ attendees &

workers• 2 Freeways

Downtown Dallas• 145,000 workers• 6 Freeways

Downtown Austin• 125,000 workers• 4 Freeways

SomePerspective

Destination Aggieland• Real time traffic• Real time parking• Shuttle bus service• Parking cost information, pay

through app• Game weekend in BCS – Dining,

Activities, Hotels, Tickets• App will evolve in 2015• Connected to:

gameday.12thman.com

Bandwidth?