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Many metropolitan planning organizations across the United States have embraced transit-oriented development (TOD) as their regional planning paradigm. Regional and local transit agencies have made—or plan to make—major investments in new transit capacity, particularly rail systems. These agencies expect that dense and mixed-use development around stations will follow and cause significant shifts away from automobile usage for both work and non-work trips. Federal transit support for construction of these new systems is conditioned on a showing of supportive land-use patterns, and several separate federal initiatives have been mounted to encourage the integration of transportation with land development.

The New Jersey Transit Village Initiative demonstrates a new role for state planning in the USA, one that is more European-like in nature. In an attempt to promote mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented, dense developments around transit stations in New Jersey – transit-oriented developments – the planning process has proven to be innovative and not typically American. This paper presents an overview of the Initiative and a summary of its evaluation. We conclude that the Transit Village Initiative in New Jersey is a good model of smart growth, which stems from active planning and intergovernmental cooperation on land use and transportation issues.

Driving Growth Through Transit-Oriented Development and Using Zoning to Reap the Benefits of TOD.

These design guidelines define the relationship between the public realm, as characterized in the Dublin Transit Center General Plan/Specific Plan Amendment, and the public and semi-public portions of private development

Introduction In the early years of the 20th century, transit dominated travel in cities—and, by necessity, development was clustered near transit. In fact, transit and land use were so closely connected that private transit operators often developed real estate and used the profits to subsidize transit operations. By the close of the 20th century, however, the automobile had become the dominant means of travel in urban centers, cities with extensive transit networks were in decline, and proximity to transit was most often an afterthought in development. Once the norm in urban settings, development around transit became the exception. And, as accessibility for automobiles became the focus of development, with no regard for the location of transit, the basic principles for developing around transit fell into disuse, and were eventually lost. Recently, however, new trends have emerged that favor cities, transit, and development around transit. A number of major cities with extensive…

Purpose. The purpose of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zoning districts is to create a compact, and high intensity mix of residential, office, retail, institutional, and civic uses to promote the creation and retention of uses in areas with high potential for enhanced transit and pedestrian activity. Pedestrian circulation and transit access are especially important and have an increased emphasis in the TOD zoning districts. The development standards are designed to require compact urban growth, opportunities for increased choice of transportation modes, and a safe and pleasant pedestrian environment by ensuring an attractive streetscape, a functional mix of complementary uses, and the provision of facilities that support transit use, bicycling, and walking. These zoning districts are meant to create high density transit supportive development around transit stations, typically the area within one-half (1/2) mile walking distance from the transit station, which represents a…

A short PowerPoint presentation of the definition, benefits, and impacts of TOD. Contrasts transit adjacent design and automobile oriented transit design to true TOD.

Instead of branding anything that is built near transit a successful TOD, this report suggests that projects should be judged against specific desired outcomes