Transit

1
Transits Role in Creating Livable Communities

• Presentation by Eva Lerner-Lam, PresidentThe
  Palisades Consulting GroupVirginia Transit
  Association Annual Meeting
• June 7, 2001

2
Overview

• How did we get here?
• Finding our voice in the 1990s
• Learning the importance of transit and how to
  leverage it
• Tools for integrating transit and land use
• Glimpses of what can be
• Need to keep closing the gap between transit and
  land use planners

3
A Half Century of Auto-Oriented Development

• Many reasons
• Federal motorization- industrialization policy
• VA housing programs targeting the suburbs
• Extended peacetime economic growth and prosperity

4
resulted in unintended sprawl

• Effects of sprawl
• Wasted resources
• Environmental impacts
• Societal stress

5
1990s A New Paradigm Emerges

• Many manifestations
• Smart Growth
• Sustainable Development
• Traditional Neighborhood Design
• Transit-Oriented Development
• Infill Development
• Transit Villages
• Access Management

6
Transits Role in the New Paradigm

• Holtzclaw Index
• One additional passenger-mile on transit results
  in reductions in driving substantially greater
  than one mile.

7
Transit Access Impacts on VMT
Community San Francisco Walnut Creek San
Ramon Pop Density/pop acre 24.2 4.6 2.4 Net HH
density/hh res ac 48.3 4.7 3.2 Transit
Accessibility 70 21 1.0 Shopping
Accessibility .76 .10 .00 VMT Capita 4,779 9,618
10591
Victoria Transport
8
Reductions in Per Capita Motor Vehicle Travel
(Dagang, 1995)
9
Reduction in VMT Due to 1 Transit Passenger-Mile
Study Rail City Max Age Non-Rail City Older system Newer System
Pushkarev/Zupan NY, Ch, Phil, SF, Bos, Clev 104 yrs Urban gt 2 million 4
Newman-Kenworthy Bos, chi,, Ny, SF, DC 114 urs Den, Det, Hou, La, Phoe 2.9
Newman-Kenworthy 23 US, Can, Austr and Euro Cities 120 yrs Den Det, Hou, LA, Phoe 3.6
Newman-Kenworthy SF Walnut Creek 115 yr 15 (BART) Danvill-San Ra Danville-San Ra 8 4
Holtzclaw 1994 SF Walnut Creek 117 yr 17 BART) San Ramon San Ramon 9 1.4
MTC/RAFT 2010 Project SF Region lt135 yrs SF Region 4.4
10
Transit Access Saves Consumers Money

• Households in auto-dependent regions devote more
  than 20 of household expenditures to surface
  transport (8,500/year) vs. less than 17
  (5,500/year) in those with transit access
  (McCann 2000)

11
Synergies Among Methods

• Increasing land use density, pedestrian and
  bicycle improvements, transit-oriented
  development, more mixed land use and parking
  management can reduce per capita auto use by
  15-25

12
Lets Talk Transit

• Anton Nelessen
• Design by Democracy
• Pedestrian Precincts
• Neighborhood Transit

Photo courtesy Farr Associates
13
Leveraging the Power of Transit

• Andres Duany Houses and businesses should be
  assembled into a neighborhood and a regional
  structure that supports transitand vice versa.

14
Mind the Gapbetween Land Use and Transit
Planning

• Bill Lieberman A lot of the sprawl we have
  today is because people planning transit
  facilities and people planning land use havent
  been put together.

Diagrams Courtesy of Walter Kulash Glatting
Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart
15
Transit Toolkits for Smart Growth

• Access management ordinances
• Bike/Transit integration
• Carsharing/Vehicle rentals
• Commuter Financial Incentives
• Congestion Pricing
• Distance-based Fees
• Guaranteed Ride Home Programs
• High Occupant Vehicle Preference
• Level of Service Standards
• These examples are from Northern VA
  Transportation Coordinating Councils Task Force
  on LU and Transportation ATLAS Study

16
Transit Tools for Smart Growth (continued)

• Parking Management/Restrictions
• Parking Pricing
• Suburban Scale Transit
• Telework Centers/Initiatives
• Traffic Calming
• TDM Programs
• Transportation Management Associations
• Trip Reduction Ordinances
• Vehicles Use Restrictions

17
Transit Tools for Smart Growth (continued)

• Still need
• Formalization of concept and lexicon
• Design manual for transit access improvements
• Zoning code changes (e.g., TND Ordinance)
• Institutional integration

18
A 21st Century String of Pearls (and Popcorn)

• Calthorpe Took the string of pearls from the
  1800s and started building todays pedestrian
  pockets around rail stations
• (Duany Add popcorn for circulator bus feeder
  stations)

19
A Hierarchy of Transit Planning

• Regional Transit Corridors
• Town Centers
• Neighborhoods

20
A Regions Transit Corridors

• Town Centers connected to Urban Centers by
  transit as well as by auto

San Jose shopping mall Photo courtesy of Michael
Corbett
21
The Town Center

• Seaside, FL broke new ground and laid the
  foundations for what was to become New
  Urbanism.
• Although a resort town, it inspired many to think
  differently about suburban design.

Photo courtesy of DPZ
22
The Town Center

• In a transit-friendly region, neighborhood
  centers are connected to town centers at transit
  stops.

Courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk Company
23
The Town Center

• Gresham LRT Station, Portland, OR

24
Town Center, Before

• The Crossings, a dead mall

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
25
Town Center, After

• The Crossings, transformed
• Parks are included in a system of pathways
  leading to a light-rail station.

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
26
The Neighborhood

• Duany Plater-Zyberk's standards for a new
  neighborhood are based upon Clarence Perry's 1929
  diagrams (which described walkable neighborhoods
  such as Forest Hills, NY and Radburn, NJ)

27
The Neighborhood

• Communities that are affordable, conducive to
  social interaction and within walking distance to
  transit

Photo courtesy Local Government Commission
28
The Neighborhood

• All neighborhoods in Northwest Landing are within
  walking distance of transit stops

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
29
The Neighborhood

• Northwest Landing, Palisade Village

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
30
The Neighborhood

• Northwest Landing, single-family homes

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
31
The Neighborhood

• Laguna West streetscape

Photo courtesy Calthorpe Associates
32
The Neighborhood

• Richmond, CA Transit Villagea village built
  around a BART station

33
Moving Forward Minding the Gap

• Congress for the New Urbanism
• http//www.cnu.org
• American Planning Association
• http//www.planning.org
• Smart Growth Network
• http//www.smartgrowth.org
• Surface Transportation Policy Project
• http//www.transact.org
• Urban Land Institute
• http//www.uli.org

Hiawatha/Lake Street TOD Minneapolis, MN Photo
Courtesy Calthorpe Associates