Our project is located within an Airport Campus. From our project site to the main terminals is about 1 mile. We have a bus stop at the end of our site (within the 1/4 mile walking distance to the building entrance). At this bus stop occupants will be able to get on (2) bus shuttles that will take them to the airport Terminal. At the terminal occupants will have access to the following: (1) Public Bus, Shuttle Bus to the cruise port, Shuttle Bus to the Tri-Rail Station, Shuttle Bus to economy parking, shuttle bus to the rent-a-car service and access to international flights. The LEED Reviewer says the shuttle can work if they provide direct access to TWO bus lines within 2 miles of project site. We are providing our building occupants direct access within 1 mile of the project site to a MAJOR Public Transportation Hub, the Airport! How do I explain this to the reviewer?
Also I have a Tri Rail Station 3.75 mile from the project site. At this station Building Occupants would have access to 4 public bus lines, tri-rail, and multiple community busses. There is a shuttle that travels from the tri-rail station to the airport terminal passing by our project site. The Shuttle has agreed to stop at the site and pick up occupants and take them to either the airport terminal or the Tri-rail station. Can we have exception for this? Note that the airport campus is a 6 mile loop, therefore to get out of the campus you would have to drive at least 3 miles.
Thank you for your help
David Posada
Integrated Design & LEED SpecialistSERA Architects
LEEDuser Expert
1980 thumbs up
January 24, 2013 - 6:19 pm
From what you've described, it sounds like your site is served by multiple options for public transit with a high level of service. It’s not clear how much of that has been documented for the reviewer to prompt their question. It seems like some reviewers are sticking to a very literal reading of the credit requirements and may be less likely to consider other situations as having an equivalent level of performance. True, there are so many variables in these special situations it can be hard to convince someone that the level of public transit service is equivalent or better to what you’d get from 2 bus lines stopping within a quarter mile of your project.
Maybe that’s part of the narrative you need to assemble: create a “baseline” comparison, where you site your building in a reasonably busy part of town with access to two bus lines (don’t choose a site that just barely complies). Show the number of rides/ trips provided per day, and maybe map the geographic extent of those two bus lines to estimate the square miles or % of the metropolitan area that is served by those lines. Then do the same for your site, and show the number of transit routes, rides/ trips, and geographical area your users can access using the shuttles that will link to the terminal and the rail station. It seems reasonable to expect airline travelers to be more willing to use shuttles and transfer more than once; they do that even to rent a car, and many airports rely on shuttle loops and intermediate connections to larger transit networks.
Hope that helps – ask any other questions and keep us posted on what you hear!
Erin Holdenried
Sustainability Architect125 thumbs up
May 1, 2013 - 5:59 pm
Check out LEED Interpretation #10004 made on 05/09/2011, it allows a bus line that connects to major transit system to meet the credit requirements.