While highway medians offer convenient rights-of-way for planning rail rapid transit alignments, they may not be well suited for transit stations and the variety of supporting land uses such stations serve well. Alternatives, including off-line stations and deck structures above the highway, may be considered for accommodating the intense mixed-use development most appropriate for rail rapid transit station areas. Like most planning problems, highway median transit station solutions often involve trade-offs and compromises. Community dissatisfaction with large, lifeless parking structures in Virginia and California and the alternatives being considered suggest trade-offs between local and regional concerns, and compromises on park-and-ride capacity and station area development potential.
展开▼
