A 'rest area', 'travel plaza', 'rest stop', or 'service area' is a public facility, located next to a large thoroughfare such as a
highway or
expressway, at which drivers and passengers can refuel, eat, and rest. Other names include 'rest and service area' ('RSA'), 'service station', 'resto', 'service plaza', and 'service centre'. Facilities include
park-like areas,
fuel stations,
restrooms, and
restaurants. Rest areas are common in the
United States,
Canada,
Australia and parts of
Europe and
Asia.
General information
Generally, the standards and upkeep of rest areas facilities vary. Rest areas also have
parking areas allotted for
buses,
tractor-trailer trucks (big rigs) and
recreational vehicles (RVs).
Many government-run rest areas tend to be located in remote and
rural areas where there are practically no
fast food or full-service
restaurants, gas stations, motels, and other traveler services nearby. The location of rest areas are usually marked by a sign on the highway; for example, a sign may read "Next Rest Stop - 10 Kilometres".
Driving information is usually available at these locations, such as posted
maps and other local information. Some rest areas have visitor information centers or
highway patrol or
state trooper stations with staff on duty. There might also be
drinking fountains,
vending machines, pay
telephones, a
gas station, a
restaurant or a
convenience store at a rest area. Many rest areas have
picnic areas. Rest areas tend to have traveler information in the form of so-called "
exit guides", which often contain very basic maps and advertisements for
motels and
tourist attractions.
Privatized commercial rest areas may take a form of a large service center complete with a
gas station (or
petrol station in
Britain) ,
arcade video games and recreation center, and
fast food restaurant,
cafeteria, or
food court all under one roof immediately adjacent to the freeway. Some even offer business services, such as
ATMs,
fax machines, office
cubicles and
internet access.
Safety issues
Many rest areas have the reputations of being unsafe with regard to crime, especially at night, since they are situated in remote areas. California's policy is to maintain existing public rest areas, but no longer build new ones due to the cost and difficulty of keeping them safe.
North America
United States
California "NO SOLICITING" rest area sign.
In the United States, rest areas are typically non-commercial facilities that provide, at a minimum, parking and restrooms. Some may have information kiosks, vending machines, and picnic areas, but little else. They are maintained and funded by the
Departments of Transportation of the
state governments. For example, rest areas in
California are maintained by
Caltrans.
Some states, like
California, have laws that explicitly prohibit private retailers from occupying rest stops.
[1] A federal statute passed by Congress also prohibits states from allowing private businesses to occupy rest areas along Interstate highways. The relevant clause of 23
U.S.C. § 111 states:
:The State will not permit automotive service stations or other commercial establishments for serving motor vehicle users to be constructed or located on the rights-of-way of the Interstate System.
The original reason for this clause was to protect innumerable small towns whose survival depended upon providing roadside services; because of it, private truck stops and travel plazas have blossomed into a $171 billion industry in the United States.
[2] The clause was immediately followed by an exception for facilities constructed prior to
January 1,
1960, many of which continue to exist as explained further below.
Therefore, the standard practice is that private businesses must buy up
land near existing
exits and build their own facilities to serve travelers. Such facilities often have signs several hundred feet tall that can be seen from several miles away (so that travelers have adequate time to make a decision). In turn, it is somewhat harder to visit such private facilities, because one has to first exit the freeway and navigate through several intersections to reach a desired business's parking lot, rather than exit directly into a rest area's parking lot. Public rest areas are usually (but not always) positioned so as to not compete with private businesses.
Example of blue guide sign indicating services available at next exit, near
Reno, Nevada.
Special blue signs indicating gas, food, lodging, camping and attractions at an exit can be found on most freeways in North America. Private businesses are permitted to add their logos to these signs by paying the government a small fee.
Attempts to remove the federal ban on privatized rest areas have been generally unsuccessful, due to resistance from existing businesses that have already made enormous capital investments in their existing locations.
[3]
For example, in 2003, President
George W. Bush's federal highway funding reauthorization bill contained a clause allowing states to start experimenting with privatized rest areas on Interstate highways. The clause was fiercely resisted by the
National Association of Truck Stop Owners (NATSO), which argued that allowing such rest areas would shift revenue to state governments (in the form of lease payments) that would have gone to local governments (in the form of property and sales taxes).
[4] NATSO also argued that by destroying private commercial truck stops, the bill would result in an epidemic of drowsy truck drivers, since such stops currently provide about 90% of the parking spaces used by American truck drivers while in transit.
Welcome centers
A type of rest area often located near state borders in the United States is sometimes called a
welcome center. Welcome centers tend to be larger than a regular rest area, and are staffed at peak travel times with one or more employees who advise travelers as to their options. Some welcome centers contain a small
museum or at least a basic information kiosk about the state. Because air travel has made it possible to enter and leave many states without crossing the state line at ground level, some states, like California, also have official welcome centers inside major cities far from their state borders.
Exceptions
Prior to the creation of the Eisenhower Interstate System, a large number of states east of the Rocky Mountains had already started building and operating their own long-distance intercity toll roads or "turnpikes." In order to help recover construction costs, most turnpike operators leased concession space at rest areas to private businesses. Some turnpikes were never integrated into the Interstate System and never became subject to the federal ban on private businesses, like
Florida's Turnpike. As for turnpikes that did become Interstates, all privatized rest areas in operation prior to
January 1, 1960 were allowed to continue operating. Generally, most such facilities are simply called rest areas or service plazas, although Illinois calls its facilities
tollway oases.
Some states, such as
Ohio, allow nonprofit organizations to run a concession trailer at rest areas, with limited food options.
Canada
Most of the service centers in Canada are situated in the provinces of
Ontario and
Quebec, along their
400-Series and
Quebec Autoroute networks.
Ontario
The service centers for
Highway 401 were mostly built around
1962. Two more service centers (for eastbound and westbound) were added between Cambridge and Guelph in 1989. In 1993-94, two were placed at the ends of the
Greater Toronto Area with one serving eastbound traffic in Mississauga and another for westbound traffic just outside Oshawa; this was to allow travelers to relieve themselves before encountering expected traffic jams inside the heart of the GTA. The Mississauga travel center was closed on September 30, 2006.
[4] There are currently no more planned to be constructed.
Two (along
Highway 400, just south of
Barrie, Ontario) are planned to be torn down when the freeway is widened around
2008-
2009, and another service station at
Cookstown has since been expanded into an outlet mall.
Highway 417 has a pair of service centers near
Highway 34.
The service centers in Ontario have private restaurants and establishments. Most of them used to be independently operated; however during the early 1990s they were taken over by major chains such as
Wendy's,
Tim Horton's,
Mr. Sub, and
Nicholby's Express convenience stores (there are few
McDonald's, while
Burger King used to be at the Woodstock before the service station was rebuilt). They also have
gas stations (most commonly
Esso, followed by
Shell, and less commonly
Petro-Canada), washrooms, picnic areas,
vending machines, and
arcade games.
Reese's Corner at the intersection of
Highway 21 South and
Highway 7 is often considered a service centre; even since Highway 7 was bypassed by the freeway
Highway 402, 402 travelers can reach it via Exit 25. Lastly,
truck inspection stations (which are more frequent than service centres) can be used by travelers.
Quebec
In Quebec, the service centers are known as ''resto''s and are located along their Autoroutes, and many of their provincial
highways. Only two have gas stations or restaurants; though most of the remainder have vending machines or canteens.
Alberta
The Province of Alberta also has service centers along the
Trans-Canada Highway/
Highway 1, and along
Highway 2, with a service center along the Northbound carriageway of Highway 2, near
Wetaskiwin, and the Southbound service center located in
Airdrie. There is also a service center in the town of
Valleyview, Alberta, near the village, along
Highway 43, near the town, and junction with
Highway 49.
British Columbia
British Columbia has many services centers on its provincial roads, particularly along the
Yellowhead Highway/
Highway 16, the
Coquihalla Highway/
Highway 5, and on
Highway 97C, the first service centers built in the province. One notable curiosity is a service center built along
Highway 118: it is a minor road connecting two towns to the Yellowhead Highway (Hwy. 16).
Other
The Prairie Provinces (
Saskatchewan,
Manitoba) have rest stops located along the Trans-Canada Highway (
Highway 1, however, they are simply places to rest, or go to the washroom; they are not built to such high standards as the
400-Series Highways of Ontario, or the
Interstate Highways of America.
Nova Scotia has constructed a small number full-fledged service centers along its
100-Series Highways.
In
New Brunswick, the only rest areas are roadside parks with picnic tables and washrooms operated as a part of the
provincial park system, but many have closed due to cutbacks. Occasionally,
litter barrels are also found along the side of the road.
Europe
United Kingdom
Main articles: Motorway#Motorway service areas
The term "rest area" is not generally used in the United Kingdom. The most common terms are motorway service areas (MSA), 'motorway service stations' or simply motorway services. As with the rest of the world, these are places where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel, rest, or take refreshments. Almost all the MSA sites in the UK are owned by the
Department for Transport and let on 50-year leases to private operating companies.
Lay-bys
The term 'lay-by' is used in the
United Kingdom to describe a roadside parking or rest area for drivers. In the U.S. the usual term is
turnout.
Lay-bys can vary in size from a simple parking bay alongside the carriageway sufficient for one car only, to substantial areas that are separated from the carriageway by verges and can accommodate dozens of vehicles.
Lay-bys should be marked by a
blue sign with a
white letter P on it. There should also be advance warning of lay-bys to give drivers time to slow down safely. In practice, many local authorities neglect to maintain these signs to an adequate degree, and may be missing entirely.
Mobile catering is provided in some larger lay-bys. Such vendors operate from converted
caravans,
trailers or
coaches, and generally offer much better value for money than roadside restaurants. As such these tend to be popular with
truckers.
Lay-bys are beneficial to
road safety as they provide somewhere safe for drivers to stop, whether they wish simply to rest, check directions, make a phone call, stretch their legs, or take refreshments.
Many roads in the United Kingdom do not have sufficient lay-bys and drivers may have to journey for many miles to find one.
Some lay-bys have been closed off by councils because of problems caused by travellers or vagrants.
Some lay-bys have parking restrictions to prevent lorries using them as overnight parking, or as a long term storage area for trailers.
Some motorways that don't have hard shoulders have a lay-by - despite it being illegal to stop on the carriageway of a motorway.
A new version of a lay-by is coming into place. Emergency Refuge Areas (ERAs) are being used on the
M42. At rush hour, its new high-tech signs can open the
hard shoulder to traffic, and ERAs then operate as lay-bys. They will have cameras so operators can give an arriving vehicle help (if it's broken down, giving them help on joining the road (as there is no-where to build up speed), etc) and the cameras also detect motorists needlessly stopping. They come with a good amount of space away from the carriageway (when the hard shoulder is not in use) and new emergency phones, that as well as a phone have text messaged replies for the hard of hearing, and 8 different languages.
Overhead restaurants
An 'overhead bridge restaurant' ('OBR') or 'overhead restaurant' is a special rest area with
restaurants above the expressway. Unlike typical laybys and RSAs which are only accessible in one-way direction only, an overhead restaurant is accessible from both directions of the expressway.
Other countries
Honshu Shikoku contact bridge, a rest station at Big Naruto bridge.
In
Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Saudi Arabia and
Turkey, rest areas have prayer rooms (musola) for
Muslims travelling more than 90 km (marhalah).
In
Japanese English, a rest area is called a "".
See also
★
Diner
★
Truck stop
★
Highway oasis
★
Illinois Tollway oasis
References
1. Cal. Streets and Highways Code Sections 225.5[1] and 731 [2].
2. Gordon Dickson, "Government Work Zone," ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', 4 August 2003, sec. Metro, p. 3.
3. Thomas Corsi, Robert Windle, A. Michael Knemeyer, "Evaluating the Potential Impact of Interstate Highway Rights-of-Way Commercialization on Economic Activity at Interchanges," ''Transportation Journal'', vol. 39, no. 2 (Winter 1999): 16-25.
4. Anonymous, "NATSO denounces pro-commercialization in highway bill," ''National Petroleum News'' 95, no. 5, (May 2003): 9. [3]
External links
★
Motorway Services Online
★
Motorway Services Trivia website
★
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority - Oases Services
★
Official Illinois Oases Web Site - Belvidere
Examples of Rest Area locations
★
TripCheck - Oregon Department of Transportation
★
WSDOT Safety Rest Areas Map
★
California List of Safety Roadside Rest Areas
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