Transportation experts in a free virtual webinar led a discussion on how train stations from other parts of the world can inspire new transportation solutions for Diridon Station in San José on Friday afternoon.
Karen Philbrick, the executive director for the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University, said the company’s mission is to increase mobility by improving safety, efficiency, accessibility and convenience.
“We need to know how to best plan, design and develop mixed use station areas and multimodal passenger facilities so we can achieve that vision of a seamless and integrated travel experience,” Philbrick said.
Mixed-use zones or developments are places that offer people the ability to live, work, play and connect in one area or neighborhood, according to a webpage from VTA.
Multimodal transportation centers are where all modes of transportation such as cars, bicycles and public transit connect at one location allowing commuters to access multiple forms of travel, according to a webpage from Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Eric Eidlin, station planning manager for the city of San José, said high-speed rail has specific advantages over other forms of travel.
Eidlin said high-speed rails are great for medium distance travel, or travel that is between 100 and 500 miles.
“So trips that are a little bit too far to effectively accomplish by car . . . but they're not quite long enough that it makes more sense to hop into a plane,” he said.
He said high-speed rail travel also includes travel best suited for central city to central city travel.
Eidlin said for example, a plane trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles is quite short, but passengers have to spend extra time getting to and from airports, and through airport security.
Eidlin said his work mainly involves thinking about how cities can bring people, goods and services closer together.
“With that in mind, train stations can really help cities do what they do best,” he said. “If you design these facilities, with the specific advantages of rail and high-speed rail in mind, you can do this kind of thing right where the rail infrastructure sits harmoniously within the urban fabric.”
Eidlin said Lyon Part-Dieu Station, the most important station in France outside of Paris, had 45 million people pass through the station on a daily basis in 2020.
Lyon Part-Dieu Station opened in 1983 and is the leading interchange rail station in Europe, according to its website.
An interchange is where passengers change trains that arrive and depart from the same station, according to a webpage from Rail Passenger.
Eidlin said this is why train stations are really compatible with dense city areas.
He also said people should not be just seen as rail passengers who go to a station.
Ramses Madou, a lecturer in regional and urban planning, said he and other experts are thinking about how high-speed rail riders are a very different kind of customer in comparison to other kinds of commuters when considering the design of Diridon Station in San José.
“You're really building a new type of customer, for at least the Western United States,” Madou said. “You're really looking at a different type of passenger and their relationship to the overall environment and what they're trying to do with that trip is very different.”
Madou said bus or rail commuters usually focus on a smaller area around a station, while high-speed rail customers are focused on a larger area around a station.
He said he and other experts are trying to make sure that they are meeting the customer’s needs when they are thinking about where these commuters need to go.
“We're really thinking about that immediate area around the station and how its development is going to impact everything from land use to transportation needs to economic development to parks needs, all that kind of stuff,” Madou said.
Madou said these concerns could include topics such as how travel to and from rail stations can impact land use, economic developments and other issues.
He said that there are certain needs for commuters traveling across the state.
“We're really bringing in institutional needs across that and . . . making sure that those state level folks are involved in helping us think it through,” Madou said.
