Transit-oriented development is going strong, according to study

New Urban News Article with images, 10/1/2004

TOD boosts transit ridership and land values — but more proof is needed before other economic and social benefits can be claimed, the authors state.

More than 100 transit-oriented developments (TODs) have been built in the US and at least as many are in planning, according to a massive report on TOD released recently by the Federal Transit Administration and the Transportation Research Board. Transit-Oriented Development in the United States: Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects, a $300,000 study that weighs in at more than 500 pages, is the most comprehensive ever conducted on the subject, according to G.B. Arrington of Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the coauthors. “It digs down more deeply than anything that has been done in the past,” he says.

The study shows TOD is “alive and well,” says lead author Robert Cervero, urban planning professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s more than just some anecdotes. It’s happening on many fronts — it’s probably the most tangible form of smart growth that we have found.”

The authors found no clear definition of TODs because the characteristics of this form of development vary greatly according to location. In general, Cervero says they should be walkable, relatively dense, and contain more than one use. Other factors were taken into account in identifying TODs: proximity to transit, whether the development was “shaped by transit,” and whether it is part of a “joint development agreement,” says Arrington. TODs are sometimes spearheaded by outside developers and sometimes by transit agencies seeking revenues that enter joint development agreements with private firms. A large portion — but not all — of the projects characterized as TODs by the authors are designed according to new urban principles, says Arrington. Cervero considers TOD a subset of New Urbanism.