Transit Oriented Development/Land Use Policy Paper
DRAFT May 2005
Definition:
Transit Oriented Development/Land Use - Includes encouraging development around transit stops as envisioned in the 2004 Transit Revitalization Investment District legislation. It also includes efforts to direct re-investment in existing communities per Governor Rendell’s commitment to revitalizing communities.
Community Development and Redevelopment
· Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA)
The RTA developed the Community Grants Program as part of its Livable Communities Initiative. Funding is made available from a one percent set-aside from the RTA’s federal capital formula funds (Section 5307).
· Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
DVRPC is the MPO for the Philadelphia region (including counties in New Jersey). It developed a program called the Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI). TCDI grants are intended to support growth or redevelopment in socially or economically disadvantaged Delaware Valley communities. TCDI grants are intended for early stage planning, feasibility analyses, market studies, economic analyses, site design and preliminary project design. These early planning activities are often difficult to fund through other sources. TCDI projects will receive priority consideration when applying for implementation funding through two existing transportation programs contained in DVRPC's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): the Transportation Enhancements (TE) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) programs. There are three funding categories: Planning and Land Use Management (including multi-municipal planning and corridor studies); Reuse and Revitalization (including Main Street and brownfield redevelopment); and Transportation and Infrastructure (including bicycle/pedestrian projects and transit station improvements).
Land Use and Transportation Studies/Corridor Studies
· The Regional Land Use Study for Martin and St. Lucie Counties
This was a study to evaluate alternative land use and transportation options in order to:
- Provide a more balanced transportation system;
- Reduce the need for major capacity expansions to US 1;
- Encourage new development and redevelopment in targeted areas, and
- Preserve agricultural lands and environmentally sensitive areas.
Priority Implementation Strategies for the study included the development of an open space and greenway infrastructure plan that includes the delineation of greenways and trails and a call to shift the focus in plans and, more importantly, local codes from accommodating cars to accommodating the entire spectrum of modes that support the movement of people and goods, with a priority on the safety and mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists.
· PENNDOT’s Smart Transportation Program
Secretary Al Biehler has called for corridor planning that can accommodate all modes versus traditional highway planning.
· Transportation and Land Use Coalition - San Francisco
"It Takes a Transit Village" - how transportation can be linked to smart growth.
TALC’s report recommended to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC - San Francisco Bay Area MPO) to condition funds for Transit Opportunity Zones (areas within a half-mile radius of heavy rail, ferry, and light rail stations or within a quarter-mile of Bus Rapid Transit corridors) on the following criteria: density; land use; maximum number of spaces parking policy; bicycle and pedestrian access.
Policy Recommendations:
1. SPC is urged to create a transportation oriented development program that provides technical assistance to communities that wish to work with their respective public transportation agencies to promote mixed-use development patterns. This could be funded by either the respective county public transportation agency and/or SPC.
2. The Commonwealth and SPC are urged to create a community redevelopment program for low-income and minority areas that provides funding to develop land use and transportation plans to promote equitable development in the region through programs such as Jobs Access and Reverse Commute and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality. It is recommended that each County in cooperation with their respective public transportation agency should administer this program.
3. PENNDOT and SPC are urged to increase funding for multi-modal corridor planning projects to determine transportation improvements identified in the Long Range Plan.