This document discusses transit-oriented development (TOD) and provides principles for successful TOD projects. It defines TOD as development with a strong transit connection, moderate to high density, and a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use design. The document outlines challenges to connecting development and transit in the US historically. It argues that TOD can be an environmental and business opportunity when done right, by following principles like regional visioning, public-private partnerships, parking management, prioritizing bus transit, affordable housing, and thinking of development and transit together from the start. Case studies of successful and struggling TOD projects are also presented.
Transit Oriented Development : Environmental Imperative, Business Opportunity
1. Transit Oriented Development : Environmental Imperative, Business Opportunity Robert T. Dunphy Transportation Consultant Instructor, Georgetown University World Bank Program – China Delegates December 15, 2011
transit-supported communities that optimize the use of land around transit stations. For Austin a lot of it will be about creating great communities regardless of transit. Better designed communities and neighborhoods where you can access some of your daily needs without having to drive. Ideally the future will bring us a more frequent and extensive transit service so that there is more potential to reduce auto trips and car ownership.
The development patterns of the last half century have not been kind to transit. In fact, they almost destroyed it. We have gone from lofts, shops, and office towers, to subdivisions, malls, and office parks. The post WWII American dream had no transit element. Edge cities and communities were built without consideration of transit, and sometimes tried to retrofit transit, an expensive and often ineffective approach.
Each transit mode serves a different form of development, generally on a spectrum from the most intensive transit, heavy rail, found in the highest density cities, while light rail offers a cheaper alternative for smaller cities, and buses can serve a wide range.
Each transit mode serves a different form of development, generally on a spectrum from the most intensive transit, heavy rail, found in the highest density cities, while light rail offers a cheaper alternative for smaller cities, and buses can serve a wide range.
Mixed-use, mixed-income TOD next to BART station Seniors. market-rate housing, office, retail, public library, health clinic Extensive façade and street improvements structured parking local nonprofit community development corporation
The next principle is to get the parking right, and to do that I recommend the Goldilocks principle: "Not too much, not too little, just right." It is important to balance transit for users and land for adjacent development
Balance transit for users and land for adjacent development · Move it: Parking nearest the station--lost opportunity · Share it: Among patrons at different times of the day or week · Deck it: (and charge) · Wrap it: Shops, eateries, residences, and services · More attractive as an urban place, and creates a built-in clientele for the businesses
The next principle is to Make Buses a Great Idea Bus, especially to those who do not ride the bus today and businesses. [show of hands, how many live in community with heavy rail, light rail, bus only]. It is important to overcome the attitude that “Rail passenger linger, bus passengers loiter”. It is important for buses to serve a cross-section of the community. Bus is exclusive carrier in many large metropolitan areas, and even in rail markets provides most of the transit service. Reinventing the bus to appeal to a “choice” transit market has involved reinventing the vehicles, the routes, and the pricing. Boulder’s Hop, Skip, and Jump service and Denver’s 16 th street transit mall are both good examples of this. One of the hottest new trends is a Bus Rapid Transit, a hybrid which combines many of the features of rail – cool vehicles, off board boarding, traffic free travel, in a bus based service.
7 minutes from South Station, Logan Bus Rapid vs. Rail New Convention Center Mixed use, 24/7 district
The next principle is to Encourage Every Price Point to Live Around Transit. Increasingly, transit is finding a market among upscale residents, especially those interested in ditching the car and the lawn and moving into the city. They are joining young workers who often choose to live in urban neighborhoods. Tech executives in Richardson Texas report that the new DART light rail line is a recruiting plus for younger tech workers who would prefer to live in more happening Dallas neighborhoods than in the suburbs. With the growing shortage of affordable housing, locations near transit hold special opportunity.
July 12, 2010 By MARK HARRINGTON [email_address] With Hempstead Town's scaled-back plan for the Nassau hub dismissed by Charles Wang's Lighthouse group as "unviable," the focus shifts to a joint Wang-Shinnecock Indian casino project. A plan involving the Shinnecocks would not need Hempstead Town zoning approvals. Several people with knowledge of the discussions said Monday that talks among Wang's group, the Shinnecock Nation... July 12, 2010 Kate Murray unveiled her Mitchel Field Mixed-use District Alternative, known by its acronym, MFM. Instead of the Lighthouse’s “10-13.5 million square feet” for development, MFM’s total was “5.4 million square feet.” Instead of towering hotels, buildings would be limited to nine stories. Murray and Town Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, a Democrat, hailed MFM as “vibrant,” “reasonable,” even “progressive.” The new plan would be “consistent with the suburban character” of the area. That drew a laugh from Long Island planner emeritus Lee Koppelman, a man who dealt with Robert Moses personally. “ It’s not a rural enclave by any means,” Koppelman says of the Nassau Hub. “It’s probably one of the most urban areas in the entire Nassau-Suffolk area.” Murray’s MFM was D.O.A. Newsday dubbed it “lackluster” and “disappointing.” Wang and his new BFF Ed Mangano issued a joint statement calling it “economically unviable.”
The best success story in clustering development around transit in America is probably the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington, Virginia – with the exception of any new building in Manhattan, of course. It began during the planning phase of the Washington Metro, actually changing the location of the proposed lines, and developed into a community consensus on growth. One of the tests of the staying power of the vision is that it be embraced into the campaigns of elected officials, which it has been in Arlington.
In closing, if you are interested in getting more deeply into this topic, a new ULI book will be coming this fall. Thank you.