Phase I Report - Traffic Report

Note: These briefs are summaries from workshops conducted during the 2001 update.

Meetings on Campus

Note: This study was completed prior to the construction of 893 new spaces at the 1604 Campus during the summer of 2000. Student and faculty information in this report are based on information from the fall 1999 semester.

Executive Summary

Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. (PTG) was retained by UTSA to provide transportation planning and engineering in support of the UTSA master plan update. The master plan update must take into account current and future levels of enrollment and employment, possible addition of classroom facilities at the ITC Campus, as well as the current and proposed configuration of internal, local, and regional transportation facilities.

A transportation study was conducted to assess the existing conditions of transportation on the UTSA campuses and included traffic circulation, parking, vehicular access, and pedestrian safety. The study also identified existing regional transportation issues that should be taken into account by university planners. This report summarizes the procedures and findings of the existing conditions analysis.

• The 1604 and Downtown campuses have a combined enrollment of 18,606 students and currently employ 3,716 faculty and staff members. Of the total number of faculty, staff, and students, approximately 16,810 commute to and from one or more campuses on a daily basis.
• The majority of the commuters attending both the 1604 and Downtown campuses live south of Loop 1604 and east of IH-10. However, the highest percentage of students attending only the 1604 Campus live south of Loop 1604 and west of IH-10.
• Traffic control at most intersections on, and in the vicinity of, the three campuses meets proper design standards. However, most pavement markings, stop bars, and crosswalks at the 1604 Campus have faded.
• Several regional roadway improvements are under consideration by TxDOT and/or the city of San Antonio that will enhance traffic operations in the vicinity of the UTSA campuses. However, none of these improvements are yet funded for implementation.
• As a part of this existing conditions inventory, PTG collected traffic volume data in the vicinity of each of the three UTSA campuses. These data included 24-hour traffic volumes on the arterials surrounding each campus, as well as peak hour turning movement counts at critical intersections. Based on analyses of these traffic counts and available roadway and intersection capacities, it was determined that all intersections within the study area of each campus currently operate at acceptable levels of service.
• There are several locations at the 1604 Campus with inadequate roadway sight distance. These problems are due to on-street parking, poor sign placement, and inadequate roadway design.
• Given the large number of pedestrians at the 1604 Campus, the number of clearly marked crosswalks are extremely limited. Standard crosswalks are provided at some intersections, but most crosswalks are implied and not clearly marked.
• During periods of peak demand at the 1604 Campus, over 90% of all parking spaces are occupied. If on-street parking were not available to students, then peak demand would exceed 95% of the available supply. Thus, overall parking demand is nearing capacity throughout the campus.
• For the 1999-2000 academic school year, UTSA issued 19,079 parking permits to students and employees. Each of these permits is valid at both the 1604 Campus and the Downtown Campus.
• At the present time, there are 7,038 parking spaces on the 1604 Campus, 690 parking spaces on the Downtown Campus, and 409 parking spaces at the ITC Campus.
• UTSA operates a free shuttle bus system at both the 1604 and Downtown Campuses.
• VIA operates two express routes and two circulator routes that serve large populations of UTSA students.
• There are several parking lots at the 1604 Campus that have substandard interfaces with the adjacent roadway system. These lots have driveways that are too closely spaced; or have access points that are too close to the access points of other parking lots; or have an adjacent roadway that serves a dual purpose of moving through traffic and providing direct access to all the parking aisles in the lot.

Introduction

Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. (PTG) was retained by UTSA to provide transportation planning and engineering in support of the UTSA master plan update. This update will include the 1604 Campus, Downtown Campus, and the Institute of Texas Cultures (ITC) Campus. The master plan update must take into account current and future levels of enrollment and employment, possible addition of classroom facilities at the ITC Campus, as well as the current and proposed configuration of internal, local, and regional transportation facilities.

A transportation study was conducted to assess the existing conditions of transportation on the UTSA campuses and included traffic circulation, parking, vehicular access, and pedestrian safety. The study also identified existing regional transportation issues that should be taken into account by university planners. This report summarizes the procedures and findings of the existing conditions analysis.

Data Collection

• Data pertaining to existing conditions on all three campuses were provided by UTSA. These include enrollment and employment data, the campus site plans, planned improvement projects, parking layouts and standards, parking regulations and permit data, and peak periods of campus activity.
• PTG collected 24-hour roadway traffic volumes and peak hour turning movement counts at critical intersections surrounding the campuses.
• The city of San Antonio and the Texas Department of Transportation provided local and regional traffic data such as planned roadway improvements and traffic signal timings.
• A survey of campus transportation facilities was also conducted by PTG. This included identifying parking lot design and roadway sight distance issues and inventorying existing lane configurations and traffic control measures.

Campus Layout

Figure 1 shows the existing layout of the 1604 Campus. All roadways immediately adjacent to the campus and within the campus boundary areas were inventoried and studied. Henceforth, the term "campus" in this report refers to the campus site along with the surrounding roadways.

Existing Campus Characteristics

Enrollment, Employment, and Residents

Table 1 lists the existing total enrollment, employment, and resident population of the 1604 and Downtown UTSA campuses. The Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) Campus currently does not offer any classes, but functions as a museum and research facility. Therefore, no enrollment data is available. The enrollment and employment totals are those reported by UTSA for the fall 1999 semester. The on-campus residential totals were current as of the start of the 1999-2000 school year. Subtracting on-campus residents from the total enrollment and employment numbers results in an estimated 16,810 people currently commuting to and from both campuses. Due to class schedules, only a portion of this total is on campus at any one time.

Table 1 also lists the projected enrollment for the fall semester of 2000. No projection of employment, commuters, or on-campus residents is available. Enrollment is expected to increase as the university expands its facilities at all three campuses. This will in turn increase the number of commuting students. The projected increase in total enrollment is due to the continued growth that the university experiences on an annual basis and the planned campus expansions.

Campus expansions are currently only planned for the 1604 Campus and the Downtown Campus. However, the 1604 Campus expansion will include non-teaching buildings, while the Downtown Campus is currently adding a parking structure.

Commuter Population Distribution

As shown in Table 1, there are about 16,810 students and 3,716 university employees currently commuting to this campus from all over the Bexar County area. Data supplied by UTSA lists the number of students living within each zip code. Using this data, a population distribution has been developed for those commuters attending only the 1604 Campus versus those attending both the Downtown and 1604 campuses. The population distributions of UTSA students within the Bexar County area are graphically represented in Figures 2 and 3. Each dot represents one student living in a particular zip code.

As displayed on these figures, most of the commuting students live within the area bounded by Loop 1604 (north and west), US 281 (east), and SH 151/US 90 (south). Thus, most of the students live between the two campuses, i.e. south of the 1604 Campus and north of the Downtown Campus.

Population distributions can also be described by the percentages of students living in different directions from the 1604 Campus. As shown in Table 2, most students live south of this campus. Zip code information for commuters attending only the Downtown Campus is not currently available. However, since this campus is located directly adjacent to a major freeway and most people arrive from the north, it can be assumed that most people arrive via IH-35. There is an exit off of northbound and southbound IH-35 that provides direct access to this campus. The drivers arriving from the east and west do so via Buena Vista Street and Durango Street.

The population distributions shown in Table 2 can be used to determine the directions from which students approach the 1604 Campus. The directions of approach allow planners to determine what regional and local roadways the motorists are using to commute to and from campus. Figures 4 and 5 show the estimated directions of approach used by students attending both the 1604 and Downtown campuses (Figure 4) versus those that commute to and from only the 1604 Campus (Figure 5), based upon the population distributions and the configuration of regional roadways.

As shown on these two figures, the majority of the commuters attending both the 1604 and Downtown campuses live south of Loop 1604 and east of IH-10. However, the highest percentage of students attending only the 1604 Campus live south of Loop 1604 and west of IH-10.

Existing Roadway Conditions

As was shown in Figure 1, the 1604 Campus is bounded by Loop 1604 on the north, vacant land to the east, UTSA Boulevard to the south, and Babcock Road to the west. Figure 6 shows the existing lane configurations and traffic control of the intersections surrounding this campus.

External Roadway Configurations

The Loop 1604 eastbound frontage road has four lanes, along with U-turn and right turn lanes at the interchanges with John Peace Blvd. and Walter Brenan Avenue. The interchanges of John Peace Blvd. at Loop 1604 and Walter Brenan Avenue at Loop 1604 are both signalized.

UTSA Boulevard and Babcock Road are both two-lane roadways. Neither road has a center turn lane, although there is an eastbound left turn bay at the intersection of UTSA Boulevard and Edward Ximenes Avenue. The only signalized campus intersection along UTSA Boulevard is at the intersection with Edward Ximenes Avenue. The intersections of UTSA Blvd. with James Bauerle Boulevard and with Roadway 5 are both stop-controlled intersections, with the traffic exiting from the campus being stopped.

Internal Roadway Configurations

Four of the five entrances to the 1604 Campus have four travel lanes. These include Walter Brenan Avenue from Loop 1604 to Margaret Tobin Avenue, John Peace Boulevard from Loop 1604 to Margaret Tobin Avenue, Edward Ximenes Avenue from UTSA Boulevard to O'Neil Ford Avenue, and James Bauerle Boulevard from UTSA Boulevard to O'Neil Ford Avenue. However, both the John Peace Boulevard and James Bauerle Boulevard entranceways narrow down to two-lane roadways at the first on-campus intersection of each road. The Edward Ximenes Avenue and Walter Brenan Avenue entranceways continue as four lane roadways beyond the first intersection of each road, but narrow down shortly thereafter.

The on-campus circulation system basically consists of low speed, two-lane roadways with two-way or all-way stop control. Most of these roadways have multiple driveways and in some places provide circulation for motorists looking for available parking spaces. At the present time, Bypass Road provides the only connection between the north and south sides of the campus.

The traffic control at most intersections on campus meets proper design standards. Stop signs are in good condition and located properly. However, most pavement markings, stop-bars and crosswalks have faded. Overall, traffic control on campus appears to be effective.

Regional Transportation Improvements

Planned improvements to the roadway system surrounding the UTSA 1604 Campus should be taken into account when planning the future transportation needs of the campus. According to the city of San Antonio’s thoroughfare development plan, the city plans to upgrade both UTSA Boulevard and Babcock Road in the vicinity of the 1604 Campus. However, the date for these planned improvements is not known at this time.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), there are no plans to widen either Loop 1604 or IH-10 in the vicinity of this campus. However, TxDOT is reviewing options for improving the connections between IH-10 and Loop 1604. This could be in the form of direct connections. However, this idea is in the preliminary stages, and there are no schedules as to when or if this might be completed.

Traffic Volumes

Existing Traffic Conditions

An evaluation of each intersection's peak hour capacity and level of service under the existing traffic volume conditions was performed using procedures established in the Transportation Research Board's Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) for the unsignalized and signalized intersections considered critical in this analysis.

The results of these capacity analyses are expressed in terms of level of service (LOS). Level of service refers to the operational conditions within a traffic stream and their perception by motorists in terms of delay, freedom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, comfort, convenience and safety.

There are six (6) levels of service describing conditions for each roadway intersection. These are designated A to F and are given different descriptions and defining criteria depending on the roadway element analyzed. LOS A represents a free-flow, optimal condition and F represents a congested, forced flow condition. Most agencies and cities consider LOS D to be the minimum acceptable level of service. Level of service at unsignalized intersections is determined by the average control delay a vehicle experiences on each intersection approach. Therefore, a different level of service is reported for each approach. Level of service at signalized intersections is determined by the average control delay a vehicle experiences at the intersection. Therefore, one level of service is reported for the intersection as a whole. The general characteristics associated with each level of service for unsignalized and signalized intersections are presented in tables 3 and 4, respectively.

Synchro 3.2, a traffic analysis software package, was used to analyze the delay at the signalized intersections. Highway Capacity Software (HCS) version 3.1 was used to analysis the delay at all unsignalized intersections.

24-Hour Volumes

As part of the inventory of existing traffic conditions on campus, the roadway configurations must be correlated with the volumes of traffic they carry. Figure 7 shows the existing 24-hour traffic volumes on the arterials surrounding the 1604 Campus. These traffic volumes were collected by PTG during November 1999.

Of the two main access roadways to this campus, (Loop 1604 and UTSA Boulevard), the Loop 1604 frontage road east of the campus is the most heavily traveled roadway within the area, carrying an average of 22,692 vehicles per day. UTSA Boulevard, east of the campus, is the second most heavily traveled roadway, with 15,160 vehicles per day.

To the west of the campus, the Loop 1604 frontage road is also the most heavily traveled roadway, with 12,354 vehicles per day. UTSA Boulevard, west of the campus, carries 6,782 vehicles per day. These significant differences in traffic volumes east and west of the campus clearly show that the predominant direction of approach to this campus is from the east and south.

Peak Hour Turning Movement Counts

In addition to the 24-hour volumes, peak hour adjacent street turning movement counts were collected and analyzed so as to indicate the level of service that the surrounding intersections are currently operating under. This analysis of existing conditions indicates that all the intersections within the study area operate at acceptable levels of service during the PM peak period of 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The data collected are shown in Figure 8, and the results of the intersection capacity analyses are summarized in Table 5.

Sight Distance and Signage Issues

Two types of sight distance are necessary to evaluate conditions along a roadway and at intersections: stopping sight distance and intersection sight distance. These sight distance standards are described in “A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets” by the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO). According to AASHTO, the minimum sight distance available on a roadway should be sufficiently long to enable a vehicle traveling at or near the design speed to stop before reaching a stationary object in its path. This sight distance is referred to as stopping sight distance. The stopping sight distance required by AASHTO for a roadway with a design speed of 20 MPH is 125 feet, while the distance required by a roadway with a design speed of 35 MPH is 225 feet.

Intersection sight distance is the distance necessary for a side street vehicle to either cross or make a turn onto the roadway without requiring a vehicle traveling on the major street to significantly reduce its speed. The AASHTO required intersection sight distance for a roadway with a speed of 20 MPH is 193 feet, while the distance required by a roadway with a design speed of 35 MPH is 407 feet.

On major campus intersections such as James Bauerle Boulevard and UTSA Boulevard, Walter Brenan Avenue and Margaret Tobin Avenue, and John Peace Boulevard and Margaret Tobin Avenue, the intersection sight distance standard should be applied since traffic on the major street does not stop. Therefore, each intersection should allow vehicles on side streets to see at least 225 feet both directions up the major street. However, on the minor campus streets such as those within the inner campus (O'Neil Ford Avenue, Ransom Road, George Brackenridge Avenue, etc.), the lower stopping sight distance standard can be applied because traffic is moving slower. Therefore, these intersections should allow vehicles to see at least 125 feet both directions up the cross street in order for motorists to safely cross the intersections.

After surveying the 1604 Campus, many intersections were identified as currently having sight distance problems. These areas are pointed out specifically on Figure 9 and discussed generally below.

Fred Cook Avenue and Margaret Tobin Avenue (Location 2) - Due to the availability of on-street parking along Margaret Tobin Avenue, there is limited sight distance for those vehicles turning either right or left off of Fred Cook Avenue. This makes it difficult for northbound vehicles to see if there is either a westbound or eastbound vehicle on Margaret Tobin Avenue.

• On-street parking should be removed within 20 feet from the corner. This would allow all eastbound and westbound vehicles to see exiting vehicles and all exiting vehicles to see oncoming vehicles. Location 1 (entry into Lot 2), Location 3 (intersection southeast of Lot 1), Location 6 (intersection of O'Neil Ford Avenue and Ransom Road) and Location 7 (intersection south of Lot 8)- Due to the availability of on-street parking, there is limited sight distance. The on-street vehicles are allowed to park too close to the corner, therefore greatly reducing the available sight distance. This makes it difficult for exiting vehicles to safely complete the desired turning movements.
• On-street parking should be removed within 20 feet from the corners. This would allow all eastbound and westbound vehicles to see exiting vehicles and all exiting vehicles to see the on-coming vehicles. Location 4 (along Walter Brenan Avenue) - Due to the crest on the roadway, there is limited sight distance as drivers proceed north along Walter Brenan Avenue. Those drivers exiting the parking lot do not have adequate sight distance nor do those drivers continuing north along Walter Brenan Avenue. In this area there is also a pedestrian crossing that northbound drivers along Walter Brenan Avenue cannot see well in advance.
• Consideration should be given to eliminating some of the parking lot entrances and exits as well as placing some type of traffic calming device just before the curve. The traffic-calming device would serve to slow down those drivers before encountering a pedestrian or exiting vehicle. Also, if the parking lots were re-striped so that drivers do not have to exit onto the major roadways every time they go to the next parking stall, the number of vehicular conflicts would be greatly reduced.
• Location 5 (inter-parking lot intersection within Lot 5) - There is a way-finding sign placed within the right-of-way in the northeast corner of this intersection. This sign limits the available sight distance for those vehicles going southbound on Bypass Road. Although this is a three-way stop, the southbound vehicles cannot adequately see to the east.
• Consideration should be given to moving the sign further back within the right-of-way.

In general, the proper placement of directional signs is equally as important for traffic control and safety as is the message on the sign. However, there is one sign on campus that is very confusing to drivers.

At the present time, there is a "no left turn" sign in the median of John Peace Boulevard that is visible to drivers departing Lot 3. This is particularly confusing since it is permissible to turn left onto this roadway after crossing the median. A better and more explanatory sign set-up would be to remove the existing sign and replace it with two "one-way" signs, one in the median and one on the far side of John Peace Boulevard Each of these new signs would reflect the appropriate one-way direction of travel.

Campus Crosswalks

University campuses must always provide for pedestrian safety due to the large numbers of students moving from the parking lots to the buildings or from one building to another between classes. By default, pedestrian crosswalks exist at every all-way stop or signal controlled intersection, whether or not they are marked on the pavement. Vehicles must stop at the traffic signal or stop sign and therefore the right-of-way is easily accessible to pedestrians. These types of crosswalks are referred to as standard crosswalks.

Another type of crosswalk is provided across major roadways, where traffic does not normally stop, in order to provide pedestrians with a safe way to cross busy streets. These crosswalks are clearly marked on the pavement and require traffic on the major roadway to stop only when pedestrians are present. Standard crosswalks are either explicitly provided with pavement marking or are implied due to the fact that vehicular traffic is stopped by traffic signals or stop signs.

Given the number of pedestrians on the 1604 Campus, the number of clearly marked crosswalks are extremely limited. Standard crosswalks are provided at some intersections, but most crosswalks are implied and not clearly marked. Figure 10 shows the location of existing crosswalks throughout this campus.

Problems arise when there is no apparent pedestrian access between the different parking areas. One place where this could be a potential problem is at the intersection of Edward Ximenes Avenue and O'Neil Ford Avenue. The vehicles entering the campus via Edward Ximenes Avenue can continue through or turn right onto O'Neil Ford Avenue. Since there is on-street parking along both Edward Ximenes Avenue and O'Neil Ford Avenue and no designated pedestrian crossing area, the drivers making this turn may not see a pedestrian crossing the roadway.

To alleviate this potential problem, crosswalk signs and a crosswalk should be installed that would clearly give pedestrians the right-of-way. Sidewalks could also be constructed along both roadways that would lead to the crosswalks.

Parking Occupancy

A parking occupancy study was conducted on the 1604 Campus by the UTSA Police Department between Monday, September 20, 1999 and Friday, September 24, 1999. The survey indicated that the peak periods of utilization were on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM and on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM.

These occupancy counts were conducted for all parking areas identified on the campus parking map. This includes all campus related student, faculty, staff, and visitor parking regulated by UTSA. Not included within the parking inventory are those parking areas associated with student on-campus housing. Figure 11 displays all parking areas within the general boundaries of the campus, while Table 6 identifies the actual number of parking spaces available in each of the lots on campus during September of 1999.

Parking Occupancy by Type of Parking

During the survey, 92% of the parking spaces at the 1604 Campus were occupied between 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, the peak period occupancy rate was 90%. However, different types of parking and certain areas of campus were more heavily utilized than others. The data collected by the UTSA Police Department during the parking inventory are included in Appendix A.

As shown in the Table 6, the heaviest demand is typically for general, faculty/staff, and visitor parking. These three types of parking areas had 89-95% occupancy rates during the survey. On the other hand, the only areas that might be considered underutilized would be university vehicle, disabled, and gov/cab/SHS (government vehicle/cab/Student Health Services) parking. However, these categories comprise a very small portion of the total available parking supply.

Parking Occupancy by Region

As shown in Table 7, there is very little difference in the parking rates among the northern lots (93%) and the southern lots (87-91%). The north region includes those parking spaces that are north of the campus buildings, while the south region includes those parking areas south of the campus buildings. Neither the north nor the south regions include any on-campus housing parking. Of the two regions, the south region has more parking than the northern region, although this difference is less than 500 spaces.

Parking Occupancy by Parking Lot

In addition to the parking occupancy of the campus as a whole, the pattern of occupancy within individual parking lots is also very important. Table 8 lists the occupancy of each parking lot on campus during the UTSA Police Department's parking study. The number or name of each parking lot can be matched to its location on Figure 11.

The data presented in Table 8 indicate that the parking demand is nearing available capacity throughout the campus. During the two peak periods, overall occupancy exceeds 90% in all of the close in lots, as well as the on-street parking areas. If this on-street parking were not available to the students, then peak demand would exceed 95% of the available supply.

The West Campus lot and Lot #10 are the only two lots that are not heavily utilized. However, these lots serve very remote areas, and students would most likely only park there if all other spaces were occupied. In addition, Lot # 10 is not served by the campus shuttle.

Parking Permits

Existing UTSA parking regulations are documented in the 1999-2000 Parking Rules and Regulations booklet distributed by the UTSA Police Department. This booklet describes the requirements relative to vehicle operations and parking on the UTSA campuses. This includes defining permit types and costs, regulations for permit use, and enforcement of parking regulations.

Table 9 lists the current number and various costs of UTSA parking permits issued for the 1999-2000 academic year.

There are two types of permits additional to those listed above. These are administrative, class P, and residents of the University Oaks Apartments, class U. Class U permits are provided to those apartment residents that are not affiliated with UTSA.

As shown in Table 9, 19,079 (2,299 employee and 16,780 student) parking permits were issued at the beginning of the 1999-2000 academic school year. Each of these permits is valid at both the 1604 Campus and the Downtown Campus.

These permits were issued for a total of 7,728 (7,038 at the 1604 Campus and 690 downtown) parking spaces. This total number of spaces includes on-campus residential areas. Due to class schedules, not all permit holders are on campus at the same time, which allows a supply of 7,728 spaces to serve the apparent demand of 19,079 vehicles.

Students have purchased 16,117 general parking permits, while only 6,238 (5,573 1604 and 665 downtown) general student spaces are available, for a demand/supply ratio of over 2.5:1. However 1,320 faculty/staff parking permits have been issued, while 1,319 (654 1604 and 665 downtown) faculty/staff parking spaces are available, for a demand/supply ratio of 1:1. However, it should be noted that faculty/staff members must compete for 665 "open" spaces at the Downtown Campus. In other words, parking is on a first-come first-served basis.

Campus Shuttles

Currently UTSA operates a free shuttle bus system on the 1604 Campus that provides service between the parking lots, the inner campus, and the different sides of campus. Figure 12 shows the two different routes operating on campus. The gray route - the north shuttle - serves the north side of campus, while the black route - the south shuttle - serves the south side of campus.

The north route originates in Lot 4 and continues north through the northern parking areas and terminates at the northwestern edge of campus. From this point, the shuttle returns to Lot 4 along the same route. The south route originates in the Rhoderick Key parking lot and continues south through the southern parking areas and streets, and terminates at the on-campus student apartments. From this terminus, the shuttle returns to the Rhoderick Key parking lot along the same route. Both of these routes operate from 7:00 AM until 11:00 PM during the school week. During September of 1999, this shuttle service carried 41,804 passengers.

VIA Transit Service

At the present time, VIA operates four transit routes that serve these two campuses. Two of these are express routes between the Downtown Campus and the 1604 Campus (#93 and #94), while two others are circulator routes (#622 and #603).

Both of the express routes originate at the Downtown Campus, but route #93 stops at two park-and-ride lots before reaching the 1604 Campus. Route #94 does not stop at these park-and-ride lots, but extends north to Fiesta Texas.

Circulator route #622 starts at the Braun Station, continues through the neighborhood, and terminates at the 1604 Campus. Circulator route #603 originates in the Medical Center, continues through the neighborhood, and also terminates at the Campus. Both of these routes are designed to serve the large student populations living in the neighborhoods surrounding the 1604 Campus.

Parking Access

There are several parking lots within the 1604 Campus that exhibit substandard interfaces with the inner street system. Specifically, some parking lots have access points that are too closely spaced. In other cases, an access point is provided for each aisle of the parking lot so that motorists looking for an available parking space must use the street to circulate from aisle to aisle. This type of circulation unnecessarily creates multiple vehicular conflict points on the street; creates a hazard for pedestrians walking past the parking lot; and can cause congestion in the parking lot if circulation is blocked by heavy traffic on the street. In addition, some of these aisle access points are closely spaced to intersections. This creates sight distance problems considering the circulating nature of the traffic movements into and out of the driveways.

The recommended distance between a driveway and an intersection is dependent upon the classification of the roadway. In this case, the campus roadways in question are low-speed roadways intended to provide access to parking lots and driveways. Therefore, restrictions on driveways are at a minimum. However, if a driveway is too close to an intersection, a possible hazard develops because a vehicle turning at the intersection could run into a vehicle just exiting a driveway, or vice versa. Although 50 feet would be ideal, due to the characteristics of the campus roadways in this area, there should be a minimum distance of 25 feet between the driveway and intersection.

Figure 13 identifies the locations where driveways are too closely spaced and/or where access points are too close to the access points of other parking areas. As shown in this figure, the parking lots exhibiting these problems include Lots 1A, 1 and 2 with their access to/from Walter Brenan Avenue and Fred Cook Avenue, respectively.

Another major conflict area occurs where George Brackenridge Avenue bisects Lot 5. This roadway serves the dual purpose of moving through traffic between Roadway 5 and Edward Ximenes Avenue, as well as providing direct access to all the parking aisles in Lot 5.

Due to the high number of parking aisles that are only accessible from the surrounding streets, there is also significant cross lot interaction in these areas. In order to increase circulation efficiency and safety, these parking lots should be redesigned to reduce the number of access points with the adjacent streets and to provide internal circulation similar to the other UTSA parking lots.

Conclusions

Based upon the inventory of existing conditions at the UTSA 1604 Campus, Downtown Campus, and ITC Campus, the following observations and conclusions are presented:

• The 1604 and Downtown Campuses have a combined enrollment of 18,606 students and currently employee 3,716 faculty and staff members. Of the total number of faculty, staff, and students, approximately 16,810 commute to and from one or more campuses on a daily basis.
• The majority of the commuters attending both the 1604 and Downtown Campuses live south of Loop 1604 and east of IH-10. However, the highest percentage of students attending only the 1604 Campus live south of Loop 1604 and west of IH-10.
• Traffic control at most intersections on, and in the vicinity of, the three campuses meets proper design standards. However, most pavement markings, stop bars, and crosswalks at the 1604 Campus have faded.
• Several regional roadway improvements are under consideration by TxDOT and/or the City of San Antonio that will enhance traffic operations in the vicinity of the UTSA campuses. However, none of these improvements are yet funded for implementation.
• As a part of this existing conditions inventory, PTG collected traffic volume data in the vicinity of each of the three UTSA campuses. These data included 24-hour traffic volumes on the arterials surrounding each campus, as well as peak hour turning movement counts at critical intersections. Based on analyses of these traffic counts and available roadway and intersection capacities, it was determined that all intersections within the study area of each campus currently operate at acceptable levels of service.
• There are several locations at the 1604 Campus with inadequate roadway sight distance. These problems are due to on-street parking, poor sign placement, and inadequate roadway design.
• Given the large number of pedestrians at the 1604 Campus, the number of clearly marked crosswalks are extremely limited. Standard crosswalks are provided at some intersections, but most crosswalks are implied and not clearly marked.
• During periods of peak demand at the 1604 Campus, over 90% of all parking spaces are occupied. If on-street parking were not available to students, then peak demand would exceed 95% of the available supply. Thus, overall parking demand is nearing capacity throughout the campus.
• For the 1999-2000 academic school year, UTSA issued 19,079 parking permits to students and employees. Each of these permits is valid at both the 1604 Campus and the Downtown Campus.
• At the present time, there are only 7,038 parking spaces on the 1604 Campus, 690 parking spaces on the Downtown Campus, and 409 parking spaces at the ITC Campus.
• UTSA operates a free shuttle bus system at both the 1604 and Downtown Campuses.
• VIA operates two express routes and two circulator routes that serve large populations of UTSA students.
• There are several parking lots at the 1604 Campus that have substandard interfaces with the adjacent roadway system. These lots have driveways that are too closely spaced; or have access points that are too close to the access points of other parking lots; or have an adjacent roadway that serves a dual purpose of moving through traffic and providing direct access to all the parking aisles in the lot.