I know you have truck stops, but they’re for truckers (and we have truck stops too). And rest stops, but they’re always portrayed as slightly sketchy poorly lit toilet blocks in the middle of nowhere with a chance of there being a serial killer lurking in the dark.
By motorway service area, I mean a single building with plenty of parking, separated into (at minimum) trucks and cars. In that building, which is open 24 hours, you have a variety of food outlets, at least one coffee chain, a minimum of one shop, and the toilets. Toilets that are well lit, and kept mostly clean. There’s also showers, either in the corridor leading to the toilets (key obtained from shop) or a cubicle just inside each gender’s loos. There’s seating inside and outside, and sometimes a play area and a bit of grass to walk dogs on. If the services are between junctions, the two sides are linked by a footbridge. There’s usually a hotel on one side. You get two or three hours free parking if you’re not staying in the hotel, or you can pay for extra time (e.g. if you’re a trucker sleeping in your cab).
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I’ve literally never heard of rest stops portrayed as anything other than what they are. I’ve been in many and they’re fine.
Yep, they are called “service plazas” here. Maybe a few other terms.
[Here’s the website for them in my state](https://www.ctserviceplazas.com/). Never seen any with a hotel though, in any state. Parking is always free with no real time limit.
You’re describing truck stops. A rest stop is generally a place where you are getting out to stretch your legs and take a leak, and possibly has vending machines and used to have payphones. They’re often near state borders.
I’ve done a lot of driving in the US, and I don’t remember encountering any sketchy, poorly lit toilet blocks. Maybe you saw it in a horror movie? They’re generally quite large and well lit with various options for food and maybe souvenirs if it’s near a famous place. I’ve never hesitated to stop at one as a solo female traveller.
I saw them when I was driving through Chicago last year.
As someone who’s seen them both in the UK and the US, yes the US has them. They are similar in almost every way to the UK’s except they usually don’t have hotels and there’s no timed parking.
The US ones are also a lot easier to navigate around in the parking lot, and (at least in my experience) they are more frequent when driving along the highway.
That’s called a rest stop here. They are pretty common but often they aren’t commercialized. Just a state run building with info, a dude handing out maps, giving advice, bathrooms, and picnic tables. SOme times they are just a porta potty if it’s in the middle of nowhere with a couple picnic tables, sometimes a huge service center with a bunch of fast food places, arcade, coffee sops, tourist goods, etc.
I went to grab a very typical one but accidental got one thats a [little fancy.](https://youtu.be/mzBQ16aMzow)
If you look at “rest stop” on Google maps, lots of them have a bunch of images, and you can also probably “drive by” via google street view.
[Here](https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89e69871324c1699%3A0x95a67dbca1b38fcf!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPX6ywQRf3LpdLRbAtXBExPQDCMLplPu9JQ_rC3%3Dw468-h315-n-k-no!5srest%20stop%20near%20me%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipPX6ywQRf3LpdLRbAtXBExPQDCMLplPu9JQ_rC3&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWx7jc9_v5AhX9FlkFHb83AXMQ7ZgBKAB6BAgYEAI)
[One way up in Maine](https://www.google.com/maps/@44.76613,-68.935948,3a,75y,201.96h,98.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4UGx3YFC07pk2GFuY6ZQeg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192)
[Middle of nowhereish in Vermont](https://www.google.com/maps/@44.565559,-72.0340333,3a,75y,168.11h,81.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNXotNZWzJ2-R44VnM2ykwg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)
Sounds like a highway rest stop or truck stop, except that ours don’t have limited parking time or hotels, and truck stops are for both cars and trucks. To find hotels, you get off the highway. There are usually a few at the exits in any big city or town.
Your image of them being poorly lit and sketchy tells me you watch too may horror movies.
Many states have these, except a lot of them are combo truck stops as well. You will often find them on toll roads, so you don’t have to pull off an exit and then repay a toll. Most are kept cleanish and will have a few fast food places.
Nah, just get off at the next exit or two. There’s sure to be a McDonald’s.
But, really, truck stops. If you want to eat. Rest stops if you want to walk around.
There are a few places like this [on the toll roads in Kansas.](https://www.ksturnpike.com/travel/service-areas) The Topeka one in particular sounds like what you’re describing. No hotel but it has several fast food places and a gas station/convenience store all in one building.
But truck stops are for everyone and some of them are pretty close to the same thing, with multiple restaurants, etc. Rest stops, at least where I’ve been, are safe and common places to stop. And the only place here I’ve seen a lock on a bathroom door is in San Diego.
We have a few really nice service plazas in Florida. I’ve actually been really surprised at what’s on offer at a couple of them. I remember driving south towards Miami and stopped at one. My expectations were pretty low already, most rest stops have vending machines and of course restrooms.
At this one I actually sat down to eat a burger from a large burger chain. Cheeburger Cheeburger was available there. Along with Earl of Sandwich, and a few other good offerings. I left full and actually brought a sandwich from Earl with me.
The rest stops / service plazas on the PA and NJ turnpikes are basically as you describe, except no time limited parking or hotels. Often the larger rest stops are in the median of the highway serving both directions.
Are these rest stops portrayed poorly in movies? Service plazas
>And rest stops, but they’re always portrayed as slightly sketchy poorly lit toilet blocks in the middle of nowhere with a chance of there being a serial killer lurking in the dark.
That is how they’re portrayed in horror movies and serial killer movies, but that’s not what rest stops are like at all. Rest stops in America are usually nice places with lots of amenities, gift shops and food courts.
You’re literally describing truck stops/ rest stops. They’re generally only sketchy places with murderers on the loose in the movies
To an American:
Rest stop: a facility operated by the state that is essentially a well-lit parking lot with a climate controlled building offering restrooms, often some vending machines, historically pay phones, often times some picnic tables etc. as a safe place to stop, eat a meal you brought with, use the bathroom, etc. These are usually well maintained and safe, often patrolled by highway police.
Truck stop: A large gas station and convenience store designed to cater to semi-trucks and their drivers. Usually there’s a large lot in the “back” with fueling and parking facilities for large trucks, and a fairly large set of fuel pumps out “front” offering gasoline for smaller vehicles. Usually there’s a large convenience store facility that offers grocery and consumer goods retail, restaurant services, showers, etc. mostly for truckers.
Service Station: A gas station that also offers repair and maintenance services. Increasingly rare as the maintenance and fuel businesses have separated.
Gas Station: A business that sells motor fuel, commonly gasoline. Most also offer at least bathrooms and a few snacks for sale, candy, packaged crackers, soft drinks etc. Most nowadays are colocated with a convenience store.
Convenience store: A retail outlet that sells food, soft drinks, beer, tobacoo products, some retail, some include restaurant services. Most but not all also sell fuel. 7-11 and Sheetz are popular convenience store brands, but The Pantry, Kangaroo, and most of the oil company marques operate convenience stores.
We have rest stops and truck stops/ service centers. Truck stops/ service centers (I often see the terms used fairly interchangeably) are the closest to what you’re talking about. There will be a gas station, an area for trucks and an area for cars, a restaurant, bathrooms with showers and toilets, grassy areas, a gift shop, etc. There’s not usually a hotel on site but there are often motels in the general area.
Rest stops are publicly funded and are much more sparse. They usually have a grassy area, a restroom with toilets but no showers, maybe a vending machine, and often some kind of informative plaques about the local area. They are usually in more remote areas. Serial killers are not a common feature of rest stops, although I will admit I am somewhat cautious in them because they are often in remote areas and have lots of people from all over stopping and then heading in all different directions.
A third option is that most towns along major highways will have a place near the highway that meets those kinds of needs. So a few fast food places (which usually don’t care if you just stop in to use the bathroom), a few motels, a few gas stations. Even if they aren’t collected into a service center these things will likely be easily accessible by travelers.
In the US, it is generally prohibited to have “motorway service areas” like you describe *directly* accessed from the highway. This was written into the law governing the construction of the interstate highway system around 1960.
There are a number of highways exempted (primarily in the Northeast + Rust Belt/Midwest) because they had already been built with service areas before the law went into effect.
More specifically, the ban is on commercial activities (beyond some vending machines) at on-highway rest areas. So for on-highway rest areas, they may have a parking area, restrooms, picnic tables, local tourism info, etc, but there will be nothing more than that. Some are very nice and very well lit, some are not.
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However, we have plenty of functional equivalents to what you’re talking about. You just have to exit the highway, and they’ll typically be built (by private operators) next to or within a few hundred feet of the off ramps. There are plenty of truck stops, hotels, gas stations, etc located like that.
The New York State Thruway has nice rest stops with usually a Tim Hortons, a McDonald’s, a convenience store, and maybe a chain pizza place. Large parking lots and gas stations
All the rest stops I’ve visited have been clean and far from sketchy. Nice places.
[rest stops](https://www.google.com/search?q=rest+stops+in+virginia&rlz=1CAEAQE_enUS1008&sxsrf=ALiCzsYEuFoc-Aw1r02-PCDoEIz2T-5OoQ:1662326086830&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv05-fh_z5AhXdEGIAHTgLDuIQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1188&bih=564&dpr=1.15)
“And rest stops, but they’re always portrayed as slightly sketchy poorly lit toilet blocks in the middle of nowhere with a chance of there being a serial killer lurking in the dark.”–
Were you getting your info from American horror movies or something?
Rest stops are very large, well lit, with a lot of ample parking, gas, and different foods for purchase. Often they have a nice outdoors too for picnicking, and sometimes vendors sell odds and ends outside, like sunglasses or fruit. They’re regarded as a safe place to go to.
Yeah I’ve been to a few, they are similar to the ones in the UK, minus the WH SMiths .
That’s a truck stop. They’re not just for truckers.
NJ turnpike and parkway have those. Gasoline/petrol stations grossly overpriced from regular stations, hence the term “highway robbery”.
Google/YouTube Buc-ees.
Yes, we have those. Like everything they vary from state to state. The named stops on the New Jersey turnpikeo are like that. There are a couple very nice ones on 64 in West Virginia. But what you are describing is exactly most truck stops. Truck stops in the US are not just for truckers at all.