http://www.transitorienteddevelopment.org/pages/1/index.htm
TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT


TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT is the exciting new fast growing trend in creating vibrant, livable communities. Also known as Transit Oriented Design, or TOD, it is the creation of compact, walkable communities centered around high quality train systems. This makes it possible to live a higher quality life without complete dependence on a car for mobility and survival
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FACTORS DRIVING THE TREND

-Rapidly growing, mind-numbing traffic congestion nation-wide
-Growing distaste for suburbia and fry-pit strip development
-Growing desire for quality urban lifestyle
-Growing desire for more walkable lifestyles away from traffic
-Changes in family structures: more singles, empty-nesters, etc
-Growing national support for Smart Growth
-New focus of Federal policy


"Traffic congestion has increased so much in virtually every metropolitan area that two-hour commutes now are routine.  Attempts to alleviate the problem by constructing more highways almost always have led to more sprawl and, eventually, more congestion."  -Jim Miara
"Transit Oriented Development as an approach to combat traffic congestion and protect the environment has caught on all across the country.  The trick for real estate developers has always been identifying the hot transit system.  Today, highways are out; urban transit systems are in."  -The Urban Land Institute (ULI)

COMPONENTS OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DESIGN

-Walkable design with pedestrian as the highest priority
-Train station as prominent feature of town center
-A regional node containing a mixture of uses in close proximity including office, residential, retail, and civic uses
-High density, high-quality development within 10-minute walk circle surrounding train station
-Collector support transit systems including trolleys, streetcars, light rail, and buses, etc
-Designed to include the easy use of bicycles, scooters, and rollerblades as daily support transportation systems
-Reduced and managed parking inside 10-minute walk circle around town center / train station

BENEFITS

-Higher quality of life
-Better places to live, work, and play
-Greater mobility with ease of moving around
-Increased transit ridership
-Reduced traffic congestion and driving
-Reduced car accidents and injuries
-Reduced household spending on transportation, resulting in more affordable housing
-Healthier lifestyle with more walking, and less stress
-Higher, more stable property values
-Increased foot traffic and customers for area businesses
-Greatly reduced dependence on foreign oil
-Greatly reduced pollution and environmental destruction
-Reduced incentive to sprawl, increased incentive for compact development
-Less expensive than building roads and sprawl
-Enhanced ability to maintain economic competitiveness

-Transit investment has double the economic benefit to a city than does highway investment.

-Transit can enable a city to use market forces to increase densities near stations, where most services are located, thus creating more efficient subcenters and minimizing sprawl.

-Transit enables a city to be more corridor-oriented, making it easier to provide infrastructure.

-Transit enhances the overall economic efficiency of a city; denser cities with less car use and more transit use spend a lower proportion of their gross regional product or wealth on passenger transportation.  - Taken from Sustainability and Cities, by Newman & Kenworthy

“A New Train network is the most effective way to curb sprawl, and goes hand in hand with smart growth, creating livable communities, economic sustainability, environmental protection, human rights, and sustainable community design. When planned together with compact, walkable forms of development, trains solve many serious problems facing society.”  -www.NewUrbanism.org


source:transit oriented development(TOD)The Center for Transit Oriented Development seeks to use transit investments to spur a new wave of development that improves housing affordability and choice, revitalizes downtowns and urban and suburban neighborhoods, and generates lasting public and private returns.