Travel Management Plan Reduces Trip Generation by Over 20% and Parking Demands by 30%

Wells + Associates DC transportation consulting team was chosen to develop a travel management plan (TMP) to balance parking demand and supply and better manage morning student drop-off traffic at the Lab School’s District of Columbia location.

Founded in 1967 by Sally L. Smith, The Lab School of Washington is internationally recognized for its innovative programs for children and adults with learning disabilities. The Lab School offers individualized instruction to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school employs approximately 195 faculty and staff, and enrolls 375 students at its Reservoir Road and Foxhall Road campuses.

Our traffic engineers performed monitoring studies to assess the performance of the TMP program. These have revealed that since 2005, The Lab School has reduced its critical morning peak hour trip generation by over 20 percent and reduced its parking demands by over 30 percent. These significant trip generation and parking demand reductions have brought The Lab School into compliance with its conditions of approval.

Construction has begun on a high school expansion and an art wing addition. W+A worked with The Lab School and the project team to provide a parking needs assessment and to suggest enchantments to the TMP. These efforts will help offset the loss of parking spaces due to campus improvements. On-site stacked parking spaces and off-site lease spaces were identified by W+A as solutions to increase parking supply. Additionally, we provided and assessment of The Lab School’s existing and proposed vehicular and pedestrian circulation, bicycle facilities, and loading procedures.

Throughout the entire process, W+A worked closely with the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, District Department of Transportation, and Office of Planning staff.