Guidelines For Transit-Oriented Development

Florida has released its draft "Transit Oriented Development Design Guidelines," which provide  general parameters and strategies to local governments and agencies to promote and implement development supportive of transit investment.
 
"The Florida Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Florida Department of Community Affairs, is developing Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Design Guidelines to promote and implement ‘transit ready’ development patterns in Florida," the state's transit-oriented development website http://www.floridatod.com/ explains.

The guidelines provide a matrix matching variables with urban core, urban general, suburban and rural land types. The variables include:

• Population and employment density
• Intensity and diversity of land uses
• Parking availability
• Physical design of the street network to provide connectivity and accessibility.

Minimum standards and ranges for these variables are provided along with density and intensity ranges.

Local governments are expected to use the guideline in refining their Comprehensive Plans and Land Development Codes to support various transit technologies and for establishing development standards for areas located near planned or existing transit station.

"The guidelines are voluntary, and the TOD principles are intended to be used in partnership with the FDOT to assist in managing congestion on state roadways, especially on the Strategic Intermodal System (SIS)," the draft guidelines note. "Implementation of the principles contained with these guidelines can assist local governments to comply with Florida’s Growth Management Act of 2005 regarding the mitigation of impacts to the SIS."

The draft guidelines have been added to the Best Practices.

 Transit Oriented Development Design Guidelines