Rest area

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Image:Virginia Rest Area.jpg In the United States, Canada and parts of Europe, a rest area, rest stop, service area, service plaza, or service centre is a public facility, located adjacent to a highway or interstate, at which drivers and passengers can eat and drink, take a stroll, let their children play in grassy park-like areas, walk their pets, check their vehicle's radiator, sleep, and use the restroom before resuming a long drive on the road.

1 General information
- 1.1 Safety issues
2 United States
- 2.1 Welcome centers
- 2.2 Exceptions
3 United Kingdom
4 Other countries
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
- 7.1 Lists of rest areas

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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 - on highway signs, these services are often denoted by symbols of a fork and knife, a gas pump, and a bed, respectively. 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 filling 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.

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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.

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United States

Image:Nosolicitingrestareasign.jpg In the United States, rest areas are maintained and funded by the transportation or highway departments of the state government. For example, rest areas in California are maintained by Caltrans.

In most U.S. states, the state government does not rent space at its public rest areas to private businesses. Some states, like California, have laws explicitly prohibiting that practice Template:Ref. 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.Template:Ref 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).

Image:Americanexitservicessigns.jpg 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 restaurant's parking lot, rather than exit directly into a rest area's parking lot.

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.

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)Template:Ref. 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.

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Welcome centers

A type of rest area often located near state borders in the United States is sometimes called a welcome center. However, 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, often at airports.

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Exceptions

Image:BelOasisAug2004A.jpg Florida's Turnpike is a major exception to the normal practice, with rest areas built between the northbound and southbound lanes, and rented out to private food and gas companies. Another exception are the Tollway oases found along toll roads in northeast Illinois. Nearly all of these rest areas are built on top of a bridge over the highway, and they are full service rest areas. One highway oasis is built alongside the highway instead of over it.

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway through Maryland and Delaware, The Massachusetts Turnpike, New York State Thruway, Pennsylvania Turnpike, New Jersey Turnpike, Ohio Turnpike, Indiana Toll Road, West Virginia Turnpike and Maine Turnpike also have rest areas with extensive services.

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United Kingdom

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.

Food sold at MSAs is notoriously expensive. This is often attributed to the fact that, by law, MSAs must provide food, fuel and toilet services at all times, and by the fact that the vast majority of MSAs in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break or RoadChef. Another factor may be that, unlike in other countries, the companies must pay the full cost of constructing the entry and exit ramps and all other required features for safe access to the MSA, as well as the MSA facility itself. In other countries, the authority responsible for the highway tends to subsidize these costs with the raison d'etre that these areas are partly a public service to drivers. By law, MSAs must operate 24 hours a day, and the costs of providing utilities and services are high. With very few customers in the early morning, they need to earn the money other ways.

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