A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway service area (UK), services (UK), travel plaza, rest stop, service area, rest and service area (RSA), resto, service plaza, lay-by, and service centre. Facilities may include park-like areas, fuel stations, public toilets, water fountains, restaurants, and dump and fill stations for caravans and motorhomes.
A rest area with limited to no public facilities is a lay-by, scenic area, or scenic overlook. Along some highways and roads are services known as wayside parks, roadside parks, or picnic areas.
Overview The availability, standards and upkeep of facilities at a stop vary by jurisdiction. Service stations have parking areas allotted for cars and trucks, semi trucks, as well as buses and caravans.
Most rest areas tend to be located in more remote or rural areas, where there are likely no fast food eateries (let alone any full-service restaurants), fuel stations, hotels, campgrounds or other roadside services nearby. The locations of these remote rest areas are usually marked by signs on the freeway or motorway; for example, a sign may read, "Next Rest Area 64 miles", "Next Services 48 miles" or "Next Rest Stop 10 km". However, some rest areas are located close to or in cities, to serve motorists passing through that municipality without them having to exit onto secondary roads. In line with freeways/motorways being fully controlled-access, most rest areas allow general access by freeway entry/exit only and do not connect to adjacent roads, even those located in cities. Some of these urban rest areas may have restricted access to surface streets, during construction, and on an ongoing basis for staff, suppliers' deliveries, and waste disposal.
Driving information is usually available at these locations, such as posted maps and advertising for local tourist attractions, along with public toilets. However, depending on the location or standards of the area, some stops have rows of portable toilets ("porta-potties") available rather than a more permanent structure or restroom building. Some rest areas have visitor information kiosks, or even counters with staff on duty in order to promote local tourism. There may also be drinking fountains, vending machines, pay telephones, a fuel station, an automobile repair shop, a restaurant/food court, and a convenience store at rest areas. Some rest areas provide free coffee for long-distance drivers, paid for by donations from other travelers (or donations from local businesses, civic groups, churches, etc.). Many service stations have Wi-Fi access, bookshops and newsstands. Many scenic rest areas have picnic areas. Service areas tend to have traveller information in the form of so-called "exit guides", which often contain very basic maps and advertisements for local motels and nearby tourist attractions.
Privatised commercial services may take the form of a truck stop, usually including a filling station, shower and/or laundry facilities, convenience store, fast food restaurant(s), or their own cafeteria/food court. Some also have amenities such as arcade games and playgrounds, or offer business and financial services such as ATMs, office cubicles, and Wi-Fi.
Safety issues Some rest areas have the reputations of being unsafe with regard to crime, especially at night, since they are usually situated in remote or rural areas and inherently attract transient individuals. California's current policy is to maintain existing public rest areas but no longer build new ones, due to the cost and difficulty of keeping them safe, although many California rest stops now feature highway patrol quarters.Cal. Streets and Highways Code Sections 225.5 and 731 .
Asia
In Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, rest areas have prayer rooms (musola / masjid) for Muslims travelling more than (2 marhalah; 1 marhalah ≈ ). In Iran it is called (), meaning .
In the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, bus travel is common; long-distance bus rides typically include stops at rest areas designed for bus passengers. These rest stops typically have a small restaurant as well as a small store for buying food. Some have proper restrooms and even souvenir shops.
Japan
In Japan, there are two grades of rest areas on Japan's tolled expressways. These are part of the expressway system, allowing a person to stop without exiting the expressway, as exiting and reentering the tollway would lead to a higher overall toll for the trip. They are modeled and named after the motorway service stations in the United Kingdom.
The larger type of rest area is called a service area, abbreviated SA. SAs are usually very large facilities with parking for hundreds of cars and many buses—offering toilets, smoking areas, convenience stores, pet relief areas, restaurants, regional souvenir shops, a filling station, and sometimes even tourist attractions, such as a ferris wheel or a view of a famous location. They are usually spaced about one hour apart on the system, and often a planned stop for tour buses. Two service areas also have a motel. The other grade of rest stop is a parking area", or a PA. PAs are much smaller, and spaced roughly 20 minutes apart on the system. Besides a small parking lot, toilets and drink vending machines are the only consistent amenities offered, while some larger parking areas have small shops, local goods, and occasionally a filling station—but are much smaller than their larger service area counterparts.
Since the 1990s, many Japanese towns have also established roadside stations along highway and trunk routes. In addition to the conventional aspects of service areas, most also provide shops and restaurants dedicated to local culture and local produce, and a number of them also feature information centers, community halls, leisure facilities including hot springs and parks, and other features unique to individual stations. There are now over a thousand across Japan.Michi-no-Eki — Japan's roadside stations - Discover more about Japan's diverse roadside stations
In the past, there were shukuba (stage stations) which served as resting places for people travelling along traditional routes by horse or foot before modern transportation was introduced to Japan.
Malaysia In Malaysia, 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.
Philippines In the Philippines, barring certain exceptions, rest areas typically occupy large land areas with restaurants and retail space on top of filling stations. There are 10 service stations in the North Luzon Expressway, nine service stations in the South Luzon Expressway, three service stations in both STAR Tollway and SCTEX, and a Caltex service station in Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.
South Korea In South Korea, a rest area usually includes a park and fast casual restaurants that sell regional specialties. Korean rest areas are usually very large and clean. Cellphone charging is free and Wi-Fi is available at every rest area.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, rest areas are maintained by the Freeway Bureau and the Directorate General of Highways. There are 21 rest areas along four important freeways: Freeways Number 1 (Sun Yat-sen Freeway), 3 (Formosa Freeway), 5 (Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway), 6 (Shuishalian Freeway) and one expressway (West Coast Expressway).
Thailand
In Thailand, rest areas are considered part of the national highway, especially on intercity highways (motorways), which are under the supervision of the Department of Highways.
For standard rest areas in the areas of motorways and concession highways, they are divided into three types: Service Centers, accommodation on large highways, with an area of approximately 50 rai or more Service Area, medium-sized highway accommodation, with an area of about 20 rai or more. Rest Stop, a small highway accommodation, with an area of approximately 5 acres or more.
There are four rest areas on motorways on Motorway 7 and Motorway 9 and there are plans to open for service in total 18 rest areas.
Europe In some countries, such as Spain, rest areas are uncommon, as motorists are directed to establishments that serve both the traveling public and the local population. In other areas, access to a rest area is impossible other than from a motorway. The Dutch rest area, De Lucht,(nl) is fairly typical of many European rest areas, in that it has no access roads—other than from the motorway, itself.
Austria and Germany
(:de:Autobahnraststätte) is the name for service areas on the German and Austrian Autobahn. They often include a fuel station, public phones, restaurants, restrooms, parking and, occasionally, a hotel or a motel. If the service area is off the motorway, it is named or .
Smaller parking areas, mostly known as a (:de:Rastplatz), are more frequent, but they have only picnic tables, and sometimes, toilets (signposted).
Finland
Rest areas are constructed and maintained by the Finnish government, while the local municipality provides area maps and sanitary services. If there are commercial services, the shop inherits the responsibility for cleanliness and upkeep of the area. Rest areas are designed mostly for long-distance drivers. The recommendation in Finland is that there should be a rest area each .
France
In France, both full-service rest areas and picnic sites are provided on the autoroute network, and regulations dictate there to be one such area every . Both types may also be found on national (N-class) highways, although less frequently than on autoroutes. They are known as , or and , respectively; ("rest area") usually refers to a picnic stop. These areas are not usually stated on approach signs, but are rather distinguished by the symbols used. A name is usually given, generally that of a nearby town or village, such as "".
United Kingdom and Ireland
The term rest area is not generally used in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The most common term is services, an abbreviation of motorway service areas (MSA) or motorway service stations. As with the rest of the world, these are places where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel, rest, or get refreshments. Most service stations accommodate fast food outlets, restaurants, coffee shops, general goods, stationery and book shops and mini supermarkets. Some service stations also incorporate hotels.
Services may also be present on non-motorway roads, as well; many A-roads have services, possibly only providing a petrol station and, in some cases, a restaurant or café.
The majority of service areas within Ireland are operated by Circle K or Applegreen, and contain fuel stations, truck stops, shops and fast food outlets, such as McDonalds, Burger King, Subway or Chopstix; they differ, from the United Kingdom for example, in that only one service station contains a hotel (the M7 services in Portlaoise, County Laois).
Lay-bys
The term lay-by is used in the UK and Ireland to describe a roadside parking or rest area for drivers. Equivalent terms in the United States are turnout or pullout.
Lay-bys can vary in size, from a simple parking bay alongside the carriageway (sufficient for one or two cars only) to substantial areas that are separated from the carriageway by verges, which can accommodate dozens of vehicles.