Pedestrian Access Considerations at Transit Stations

Our ability to move about and travel is essential to our quality of life. A healthy nation is dependent on a safe, efficient, and robust transportation system accessible to all citizens, regardless of their age or personal mobility capabilities and is essential for a diverse, inclusive, and equitable transportation system. Fundamentally, bus and rail transit systems exist to provide riders with transportation options, whether a necessity or a choice. The success of our transportation systems is tied to intermodalism, the ability to travel from one mode of transportation to another. Whether to transfer between modes or simply walk to the transit stop, at some point on the journey, all transit riders are pedestrians. We extend much attention and effort to the various fixed facilities (roads and rails), flow entities (busses, trains, trolleys), and control systems (traffic signals, rail signals, autonomous systems), but relatively little attention to the pedestrian walkways between the various modes and boarding areas that allow access to the flow entities. This paper discusses that “500 feet,” the transition between modes that could be the most dangerous part of the journey for the transit user.