CI 2009 SSc3.1: Alternative Transportation—Public Transportation Access

Possibly - it depends on the number of bus lines and frequency of bus and rail stops, which add up to the total # of "rides." For an ID point, you need to quadruple the number of rides serving stops in the 1/4 mi radius - see Interpretation # 5020 for the details.

I think the idea is that train networks have greater, faster reach than bus networks and so are higher value and more worth walking for. Also, bus stops are more common.

Usually LEED doesn't allow any kind of rounding, so the stops in this case wouldn't qualify. And it is a walking distance requirement, since accessibility is the key. Since you're close I could see documenting the credit anyway and arguing for it, but it's anyone's case if you would succeed.

Not sure if this bears directly on the question, but I'm wondering how far away the rail station is, in miles? Also, how quickly does the dial-a-ride arrive and how many people can they handle? If a bunch of people from the building get off work at the same time and want to get to the station, can the shuttle handle it?

This particular service would be available within 15-20 minutes, and a shuttle would be able to accommodate 10-15 people based on the demand, as multiple buses are available to provide the service as necessary. The service would be similar to any other public transportation shuttle service and would more than serve the needs of the building. The only difference is it would be on call because we don't anticipate much public transportation being used at this location. The service would be able to handle all public transportation demand for the building. I just wanted to clarify that the USBGC would find it acceptable for this public transportation to be on-call rather than running a constant route. If you think about it the we are probably reducing carbon emissions by having the shuttle on-call. Please let me know if you have any experience with this or if you think I can assume that the USGBC would find this acceptable, thanks for your help.

How far away is the rail station? (Again, I'm not sure I can give you a firm yes/no on this approach, but trying to get a sense of things.)

Could it be scheduled for regular users so that a call at 4:40 isn't necessary every day?

The rail station is approximately 1 mile away from the building, the service could run a normal route, so if there were 5 or 10 people or even 1 who wanted it to pick them up from the light rail at 8 am and take them to work and then pick them up from work 4:40 then it could be scheduled as such. It would be catered based on demand if there is no demand then it would not be operating. It is basically being funded by the building owner to meet the LEED requirement. But he isn't going to pay to have it drive its route if no one is using it. I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the background.

So for starters, it's pretty clear that the project does not meet the credit requirements.

Given that the owner is willing to commit to something that is somewhat equivalent to the credit requirements, you could make an argument for earning the credit. I think, however, that it's anyone's guess whether it wouuld be approved. It's not the kind of thing that has been reviewed consistently, from what I gather.

Not sure if this was any help, but great question.

If the owner were to hire a bus service for the tenants use how would it need to operate in order to meet the LEED requirements?

A bus service falls under Option 2, and the requirement is for two bus stops within 1/4 mile walking distance. My understanding is that a single physical bus stop can be counted twice if it has two bus lines. Two bus lines represents a substantial area of the region that can be reached.

I suppose that if you can argue that this private service (which would have to be open to all building users, like a public service would be) is functionally equivalent, then it should qualify.

I would probably recommend a CIRCredit Interpretation Ruling. Used by design team members experiencing difficulties in the application of a LEED prerequisite or credit to a project. Typically, difficulties arise when specific issues are not directly addressed by LEED information/guide if you are counting on earning this credit and want to be more sure of it.

I might actually argue for it under Option 1, saying that 1 mile of riding on a shuttle is better or at least equivalent to 1/2 walking. Again, a CIR is probably a good idea.

Thank you for your input Tristan, that helps. This shuttle service would be the second bus line, one is already in place.

Oh, you didn't mention that. That's huge—should improve your odds.

Two bus lines would mean two different routes. They can be from the same bus company - many areas are only served by one public transit agency.

Hi David,.

How about i have 2 bus station/stop, separated by main road and facing each other, having the same buses lines (one going to the south and the other toward the north bound), and each is serving 48 times of transit for whole day, can i count the frequency as 96 transit per day?

If you have a single bus line that runs in opposite directions, such as North and South, you would count that as one bus line. With two bus stops, one for each direction, you can count the number of times a bus stops at each of the two stops as "rides", so yes, in your example that would be 96 transit rides.

and you can count the # of times a bus stops

Thanks Dave!

The Exemplary PerformanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. language in the LEED ID+C Reference Guide seems pretty clear that the project needs to be within 1/2-mile of the rail stops, or 1/4-mile of the bus stops, to qualify for EP.

If an occupant from your project needs to ride a ferry that would be a longer ride than those distances, then I don't see how you could earn the point here. Is there something you could clarify?

You might have better luck instituting a comprehensive transportation management plan to earn the EP point.

Robert, if your project is within 1/4 mile of 22 bus lines and 1 subway you may meet the Exemplary PerformanceIn LEED, certain credits have established thresholds beyond basic credit achievement. Meeting these thresholds can earn additional points through Innovation in Design (ID) or Innovation in Operations (IO) points. As a general rule of thumb, ID credits for exemplary performance are awarded for doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold. However, this rule varies on a case by case basis, so check the credit requirements. requirements without the ferry service.

The reference guide helps clarify how to calculate the level of service - you want to determine how many "rides" are available within the 1/4 mile radius: a bus that stops every 30 minutes, day and night, would be 48 rides in a 24 hour period. 1 bus that stops every 15 minutes, 96 rides. 2 bus lines, one stopping every 15 minutes, and another every 30 minutes would be 120 rides.

In your example, if by "stops" you mean the number of times a subway stops at that station within a 24 hour period, then that sounds like the same thing as "rides." You'd want to add the number of stops/ rides per day for the subway and bus rather than multiply them. Hope that helps.