This month on Building Better Communities with Transit we’re joined by Eric Singer and Andrej Micovic, Associates at Bilzin Sumberg in Miami who talk about the creation of a unique ordinance in Miami-dade County that consolidates land use decision making. They also talk about how recent TIF districts and the county’s Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan interact with that ordinance and what’s important in writing planning code.
A new land use plan in Fairfax County, VA sets the stage for a new bus rapid transit corridor and accompanying TOD, supports enhancements to walking and biking, and preserves (or restores) open space.
Public Policy and TOD uses case studies to determine the public policies and institutions necessary for transit-supportive development to occur. The case studies include three cities with rail systems and three with high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes or exclusive busways. The six case study cities are Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; … Continued
This handbook lays out a comprehensive framework for understanding, designing and implementing transit-oriented development. The guidelines are also good practice for any area that wants to create a distinct, walkable community.
TCRP Report 33 – This report follows up on TCRP Report 22. It addresses the connection between transit and streets, recognizing that the design and management of streets and traffic can and does affect the livability of communities. This report presents strategies that are emerging across the United States, where the effective, balanced incorporation of … Continued
This paper examines how various land use factors such as density, regional accessibility, mix and roadway connectivity affect travel behavior, including per capita vehicle travel, mode split and nonmotorized travel. This information is useful for evaluating the ability of smart growth, new urbanism and access management land use policies to achieve planning objectives such as … Continued
This report examines ways that transportation decisions affect land use patterns, and the resulting economic, social and environmental impacts. These include direct impacts on land used for transportation facilities, and indirect impacts caused by changes to land use development patterns. In particular, certain transportation planning decisions tend to increase sprawl (dispersed, urban-fringe, automobile-dependent development), while … Continued
This Recommended Practice promotes the importance of design in the success of a transit project, including transit facilities and transit systems. Key principles of design are summarized, and specific tools to achieve design excellence are described, including design guidelines. Design and the design process are promoted for establishing an agency vision and sense of purpose, … Continued
Metropolitan Planning Organizations play a very important role in the planning and implementation of TOD. As regional planning bodies, MPOs are in a unique position to support stakeholders within their jurisdiction to take actions or adopt policies that support transit-oriented development and provide funding for planning and transit supportive infrastructure. In long-standing federal law for … Continued
This study examined factors that are associated with cost-effective transit investments. By “cost-effective” we mean projects with low capital cost per rider on an annual basis. To address this question, we obtained data for 59 transit investments—33 light-rail (LRT), 23 heavy rail (HR), and four bus rapid transit (BRT) systems— across 19 metropolitan areas in … Continued