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Home My WebLink AboutMerdian FM Pharmacy - Traffic AnalysisMEMORANDUM Date: September 16, 2009 TG: 09206.00 To: Sara LaFleur, Fred Meyer Stores From: Mike Swenson Jesse Birchman cc: Kevin Kincaid, Western Design Group Subject: Meridian Fred Meyer Pharmacy Kiosk Traffic Analysis This memorandum summarizes our analysis of potential on-site circulation impacts of constructing a drive-thru pharmacy kiosk at the existing Fred Meyer store located in Meridian, Idaho. This analysis estimated the number of vehicles conservatively expected to use the pharmacy’s drive- thru kiosk and the resulting queues based on observed field data. These results were then compared to the proposed site plan1 and demonstrated that the proposed design would not block any on-site drive aisles. Data Collection Existing drive-thru pharmacy vehicular demands, the time to complete each pharmacy drive-thru transaction, and vehicular queue lengths were observed at three existing Fred Meyers located in Washington state (Everett, Mill Creek, and Federal Way) on two separate days.2 Data was collected between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM on a Tuesday and Wednesday, which corresponds to the typical peak pharmacy demand at existing Fred Meyer pharmacies throughout the Northwest. The number of pharmacy transactions completed during these same time periods was provided by Fred Meyer staff. This data is summarized in Table 1 (see page 2) and values shown in bold in the table correspond to the maximum observed values at each of the three locations for each study period. As shown in Table 1, at the three existing Fred Meyer drive-thru pharmacy locations: • Approximately 7-percent of all pharmacy transactions occurred at the drive-thru kiosk, • The maximum vehicular queue observed was 2 vehicles, and • The average time to complete a drive-thru transaction was 6 minutes and 25 seconds. The table also shows that the maximum observed queue does not necessarily occur during the same time period as the maximum number all drive-thru pharmacy transactions or even the maximum number of all pharmacy transactions, as it is highly dependent on the nature of individual transaction. Sales information was also provided for the existing pharmacy without a drive-thru kiosk at the Meridian Fred Meyer. This data shows peak sales of 41 transactions per hour and 36 transactions per hour during the same days and time periods as collected for existing drive-thru kiosks. In addition, Fred Meyer anticipates that drive-thru pharmacy transactions at the Meridian store could increase to 10-percent of all pharmacy transactions as opposed to the 7-percent observed at the three existing kiosk locations. 1 Received September 14, 2009. 2 Tuesday September 8, 2009 and Wednesday September 9, 2009. 2 Table 1. Existing Fred Meyer Pharmacy Data Store Date Time All Pharmacy Transactions1 Drive-Thru Pharmacy Transactions2 Max Queue (veh) Average Transaction Time (m:ss) Everett 9/8/2009 4:00 PM 26 13 1 6:27 5:00 PM 28 1 1 2:53 6:00 PM 14 1 1 1:14 9/9/2009 4:00 PM 16 1 1 11:32 5:00 PM 18 3 1 10:55 6:00 PM 14 1 1 3:30 Federal Way 9/8/2009 4:00 PM 32 2 1 5:38 5:00 PM 31 0 0 - 6:00 PM 30 2 1 3:36 9/9/2009 4:00 PM 39 0 0 - 5:00 PM 16 2 1 6:38 6:00 PM 24 1 1 3:15 Mill Creek 9/8/2009 4:00 PM 26 2 1 4:21 5:00 PM 6 3 2 6:46 6:00 PM 17 2 2 8:03 9/9/2009 4:00 PM 20 1 1 10:23 5:00 PM 10 0 0 - 6:00 PM 7 2 1 5:25 Total 2-day, 3-siteTotal 374 25 Percent of Transactions at Drive-Thru 6.7%4 Maximum Observed Queue 2 vehicles Average Transaction Time (m:ss) 6:25 1. Total Pharmacy Transactions includes all drive-thru and in-store transaction. 2. Drive-Thru Pharmacy Transactions only includes drive-thru transactions and no in-store transactions. 3. Unique maximum hourly values for each day at each location are shown in bold. 4. 374 pharmacy transactions ÷ 25 drive-thru transactions = 6.7% of pharmacy transactions occur at the drive-thru pharmacy kiosk Project Impacts The possible impacts of the Meridian Fred Meyer drive-thru pharmacy kiosk can be assessed using a ratio of maximum queue length to the number of drive-thru transactions. This estimates the maximum queue based on the ratio between the maximum observed queue at any of the three existing drive-thru pharmacy locations and the maximum number of drive-thru pharmacy transactions. The maximum queue was observed at the Mill Creek location and corresponds to a peak number of 3 drive-thru pharmacy transactions during the same 1-hour period. This results in a ratio of 0.67 queued vehicles per drive-thru transaction. Although drive-thru pharmacy transactions comprise 6.7-percent of all pharmacy transactions at the three existing drive-thru locations, Fred Meyer anticipates that up to 10-percent of pharmacy transactions at the Meridian, Idaho store may use the proposed drive-thru kiosk. Based on the 41 transactions at the Meridian, Idaho during the peak period, up to 4 pharmacy transactions would occur at the proposed drive-thru during the peak 1-hour period. Based upon the ratio (0.67 vehicles per transaction) and the estimated number of transactions that would occur at the drive-thru pharmacy during the peak period (4 transactions per hour), up to 3 3 vehicles could queue at the proposed drive-thru pharmacy.3 As shown in Figure 1, a queue of three vehicles would not block the drive aisle adjacent to the drive-thru pharmacy kiosk and in fact would even accommodate a queue of up to 4 vehicles. This includes the distance necessary to not block the pedestrian walk-way. Figure 1. Proposed Drive-thru pharmacy Queuing & Surrounding Circulation 3 (0.67 vehicles per transaction) x (4 transactions) = 2.68 vehicles rounded up to 3 vehicles.