The EP Option 2 criteria for SSc4.1 requires 2 rail stations within 1/2-mile OR 2 bus stops serving 4 lines within 1/4-mile, with a minimum of 200 rides per day. Our situation has 1 rail station within 1/2-mile AND 1 bus stop serving 2 lines within 1/4-mile, with a minimum >200 rides per day. I would think that if we provide 1/2 of each of the two alteratives, we're achieving the EP intent of increasing/diversifying the transit opportunities, especially since the number of rides per day exceeds the threshold. Has anyone been successful in making this argument?
Also, based on past discussion threads, we are counting trips in each direction of each line as a ride. We have done this successfully (i.e., without comment) on several past v.3/2009 projects that have been certified. I understand this may not be the case with v4, but can I assume it is still acceptable in v3/2009?
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1980 thumbs up
July 28, 2014 - 3:56 pm
John,
The criteria for exemplary performance for this credit was based on interpretation # 5020, which includes the sentence “A combination of rail and bus is allowable.” That sentence doesn’t appear in the v2009 Reference Guide, but I think the intent is still there.
In most cases the proximity of the transit stop (the physical access point to a transit line) and the level of service (# different transit lines and total # of rides or per day) have been the key criteria, more so than the number of stops.
(Think of rides as the number of times a bus is scheduled to serve the stop nearest your project per day for each line, not the total number of riders. And yes, v3 didn’t clarify whether to count rides in both directions for each line, so many 2009 projects do count both, whereas v4 only allows counting the # of rides in one direction. We might assume that’s still allowed for 2009 projects, but hard to say for sure.)
The other key for exemplary performance is showing that you have quadruple, not just double, the level of service that would be provided by a baseline of bus service with 50 rides per day. The more rides per day, and the more transit lines (and geographic coverage) you have the stronger your case for exemplary performance over a baseline.