A new report by the Regional Planning Association (RPA) confirms the tremendous economic benefits that public transportation can bring to communities.  Construction of the trans-Hudson River tunnel as part of the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project could potentially raise housing values by $18 billion and generate an additional $375 million in property tax revenues for communities with stations along lines utilizing the tunnel.  Households living within two miles of a transit station on the NJ TRANSIT system or MetroNorth’s Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines could see their property values increase by $19,000.  For those living within walking distance, the projected increase is even higher at $29,000.  The new tunnel will also improve accessibility to midtown Manhattan, doubling the number of people living west of the Hudson River who can commute to midtown Manhattan within 50 minutes.  Construction of the tunnel, which will be the second trans-Hudson rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York state with midtown Manhattan, will be complete in 2018.

The report, entitled “The ARC Effect: How Better Transit Boosts Home Values and Local Economies,” is part of a larger statistical analysis of 45,000 home values within two miles of NJ TRANSIT stations. The researchers based their figures on the effect that three previous imporovement projects had on housing values. 

The report’s authors conclude with a number of implications, including:

• Investing in transit pays off. The ARC project will cost $9 billion but produce $18 billion in new value.
• Higher property values reflect an efficient economy and improved job accessibility.Average wages in New York city are 60% higher than surrounding areas, so improving access to the city makes homes along transit lines more attractive.
• Better train service can increase tax bases at the local and state levels, which reduces the pressure to increase tax rates, especially in tough economics times.
• The greatest property values can be gained by building transit-oriented, mixed-use, economically diverse development near transit stations.
• Transit agencies should collaborate with the communities along corridors utilizing the new ARC tunnel to maximize the economic benefits and improve the quality-of-life of all residents living near these stations.

Read a summary and press release here.

Read the full report here.

For more information on the ARC Tunnel project, visit the project website.

[Editor's Note: Reconnecting America is an active participant in the sustainable communities movement and a strong supporter of the new federal  Partnership for Sustainable Communities. When we learned of  the Initiative for Sustainable Communities and States we asked them to tell us little about their work. Here's what they had to say.]

The Partnership for Sustainable Communities – the coordinated effort of the US DOT, US EPA, and US HUD  – is creating opportunities for states and communities. From HUD’s regional planning grants to DOT’s TIGER grants, the opportunities are numerous and often confusing. While the federal agencies and nonprofits are working to ensure that information about these opportunities is disseminated, it can be difficult to keep track of all that is available

This is where the Initiative for Sustainable Communities and States (ISCS) comes in. A newly launched project by the Smart Growth Leadership Institute, the ISCS exists to help state and local government and community leaders keep track of the activity surrounding the Sustainable Communities Partnership, learn from others around the country, and enhance their place-making efforts at home.  A key component of the ISCS is its website, which functions as an information clearinghouse for all things “Sustainable Communities Partnership.” The site shares the latest news about the Partnership collected from a wide range of sources, as well as information about grant opportunities and their criteria. The site includes a calendar of upcoming events, such as conferences and webinars, hosted by a variety of organizations. The site also provides access to numerous resources, including a smart growth toolkit that helps communities untangle the thicket of policies and procedures that get in the way of implementing smart growth and sustainability strategies.

The ISCS website is still in its infancy and there are many additional elements in the works, such as discussion forums and opportunities for e-networking.  To best serve those interested in the Partnership, however, SGLI needs to hear from you, so your feedback and questions are not only welcomed but encouraged. ISCS can be reached through the website or via info@sustainablecommunitiesandstates.org.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), with co-sponsors Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), today introduced the Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2010 (FREIGHT Act), a landmark bill seeking to transform America’s transportation policy and investment by focusing on the freight network.

The FREIGHT Act provides a comprehensive, systemic approach to infrastructure investment that addresses the nation’s commerce needs while providing a solid foundation to help our nation meet its energy, environmental and safety goals. The bill also calls for the creation of a new National Freight Infrastructure Grants initiative – a competitive, merit-based program with broad eligibility for multimodal freight investment designed to focus funds where they will provide the most public benefit.

“Poor planning and underinvestment in our transportation infrastructure has led to increased congestion at our ports, highways, airports, and railways, and increases the cost of doing business. If we want to help U.S. businesses succeed and create new jobs, we need a freight transportation system that works better and can grow with the changing needs of the global economy,” said Sen.  Lautenberg in his statement.

“The FREIGHT Act is a paradigm shift our CAGTC members have long advocated and represents a bold step toward ensuring our nation’s economic competitiveness in the 21st century,” said Mortimer Downey, CAGTC Chairman, Senior Advisor, Parsons Brinckerhoff and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation. “For the first time ever, the bill establishes a comprehensive freight policy with outcome-based goals and creates a broad multimodal, competitive freight–specific program to provide the infrastructure necessary to move this country’s commerce and drive the economy.”

The FREIGHT Act of 2010 directs the Department of Transportation (USDOT) to develop and implement two institutional advances that will improve and coordinate policy within the federal government and the states. The first is a National Freight Transportation Strategic Plan to guide and inform goods movement infrastructure investments in future years. In addition, it calls for the creation of an Office of Freight Planning and Development, led by an Assistant Secretary for Freight Planning and Development. The bill instructs USDOT to develop baselines, tools and methods within two years to measure progress.

“A truly multimodal national freight program that is accountable to measurable performance targets and benchmarks is something the U.S. has needed for a long time,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “We applaud Senator Lautenberg for recognizing that our freight system can move our goods from coast to coast and power the economy while also being part of the solution for many of our most pressing problems: air quality, dangerous emissions, oil dependence, and congestion on our highways and interstates, to name just a few."

In developing the National Freight Transportation Policy, the FREIGHT Act also encourages concurrent improvements in air quality impacts, carbon emissions, energy use and public health and safety by establishing environmental goals to complement goals for reducing delays and improving travel time reliability on freight corridors, at gateways and heavy freight population centers. Similarly, the grant program sets criteria to prioritize projects that improve freight mobility and enhance economic growth, while incentivizing environmental improvements.

"Congress must modernize our outdated freight infrastructure to reduce its harmful environmental and public health impacts," said Kathryn Phillips, a transportation expert with the Environmental Defense Fund. "This important bill provides a roadmap to target federal investment to create a cleaner, more reliable freight system for the 21st century."

System performance is emphasized throughout the FREIGHT Act and projects will be judged on benefit-cost analysis. The significant overlap among public and private interests in the freight system is recognized through encouraged planning and cooperation with private sector interests, while the grant program leverages Federal investment by promoting non-Federal contributions to projects.

“The National Freight Infrastructure Investment Grants program proposed in this bill would be an important addition to the federal toolbox. It would help fund exactly the type of multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional, major transportation infrastructure projects that have historically been overlooked by the federal transportation investment process," said Chuck Baker, CAGTC Member and President of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association.

The Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors, Environmental Defense Fund and Transportation for America commend Senator Lautenberg and the other co-sponsors of this visionary and strategically important policy. The three organizations have agreed to work together in support of the FREIGHT Act and call upon all in the transportation community to join in support.

The California PATH Program of the University of California, Berkeley, has completed a study of efforts integrate mult-modal transportation services around a Bay Area Rapid Transit District station and a new transit-oriented complex.

In "EasyConnect II: Integrating Transportation, Information, and Energy Technologies at the Pleasant Hill BART Transit Oriented Development," researchers evaluated electronic bike lockers and an online locker reservation system; an improved automobile parking information system; use of a hydrogen fuel cell power source; and a protocol for a web-based service that provides detailed information on available modal options.

This research built upon the EasyConnect I study, which involved an operational test of introducing shared-use electric bicycles, non-motorized bicycles, and Segway Human Transporters (HTs) (known as “low-speed modes”) at the Pleasant Hill BART station, to allow commuters to connect to surrounding employment centers.

The lockers, which are designed for all of the "low-speed mode" vehicles, were almost always used for bicycle storage. And while the lockers were envisioned to be used by BART riders who would complete the last mile of their trip to work, nearly all of the lockers were used by individuals riding bikes from home to the BART station to commute to work elsewhere.

"Roughly 180 respondents (about 40 percent) indicated that they would complete their trip with some other mode other than a bicycle if eLockers were unavailable," the researchers noted. "Thus the eLockers are facilitating bicycle travel for a sizeable share of the sample. Many of these respondents would shift to other modes, and nearly 80 respondents suggested that they would shift to driving an automobile alone. Hence, based on these results, the eLockers may be enabling 15 to 20 percent of the sample to use a bicycle instead of an automobile."

This report has been added to the Best Practices.

EasyConnect II: Integrating Transportation, Information, and Energy Technologies at the Pleasant Hill BART Transit Oriented Development

Casius Pealer, director of the Affordable Housing Initiative at the U.S. Green Building Council, has an excellent article over at Affordable Housing Finance magazine on the question of how to ensure affordable housing will be available in new transit-oriented developments.

"Precisely because public transit is a valuable amenity and tends to raise property values and rents, it is often difficult to keep affordable housing units close by," Pealer notes. "This is true for both tenant-based and project-based subsidies, but many owners of project-based units close to transit are in particular danger of opting out of affordability restrictions."

In September 2009, the AARP, Reconnecting America and the National Housing Trust released a comprehensive report revealing that in the next five years as many as 160,000 renters in 20 metro areas could lose their affordable apartments near transit because the contracts on their privately-owned HUD-subsidized rental units are due to expire.

Pealer's article discusses a number of tactics available to help preserve affordable housing.

Read the article here.

Read the report here.