TOD areas typically consist of a central transit station surrounded by high-density residential and commercial development. Furthermore, pedestrian access often allows for community engagement as well as local activities focused around public transport.
TOD can reduce transportation costs, which has an even larger effect on low-income households who spend a larger proportion of their incomes on transportation costs. TOD also creates more equitable access to affordable housing.
1. Accessibility
TOD promotes compact urban development by integrating land development and transport services, helping reduce suburban sprawl, lessen dependence on motor vehicles, and encourage healthier lifestyles. TOD communities feature high-quality walking environments as well as amenities such as housing, office space and shopping.
Nationally, households spend 32% of their income on housing costs and 19% on transportation costs; for low-income families these costs can be prohibitive and limit access to employment and social services. TOD prioritizes affordable neighborhoods near public transit that can reduce living costs for low-income households.
TOD offers an ideal opportunity to introduce accessibility principles – an integral component of DEI initiatives. SeeWriteHear’s team of accessibility specialists has extensive experience integrating accessibility principles into all projects from physical spaces to digital platforms.
2. Convenience
Convenience refers to being easily accessible and usable, which makes transit-oriented development appealing in that people can live, work, shop and play within close proximity of public transportation services and city services.
Convenient development helps households save on transportation costs, freeing them to invest more in food and other essentials. Furthermore, convenient development improves air quality while decreasing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
TODs provide increased density while offering high-quality walking environments, supporting local businesses and housing options for low-income households. Furthermore, TODs encourage public transit use which helps reduce car dependency while benefiting the environment – an ideal option for cities facing growing urban populations and environmental concerns.
3. Sustainability
Establishing neighborhoods around transit centers promotes compact city growth by decreasing sprawl and car use, leading to more sustainable and equitable cities with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, shorter travel distances and enhanced access to jobs and services.
TOD communities also provide affordable housing options to accommodate individuals from varying income brackets, easy access to neighborhood amenities and shopping, and vibrant, walkable communities that draw in more transit ridership as well as generate revenue to support station improvements and maintenance costs.
TOD is currently helping revitalize an underutilized lot near LIRR Westbury Station by developing mixed-use development, including affordable and market-rate homes, mixed with neighborhood retail space. Additionally, this project includes ground lease for community retail to enhance station areas while improving customer experiences as well as leverage real estate to finance transit improvements.
4. Energy
Studies have demonstrated that people living in compact, walkable TOD communities drive between 8-32% fewer miles annually compared with their counterparts living farther away, thus cutting fossil fuel consumption and helping lower greenhouse gas emissions.
TODs offer significant transportation cost reduction benefits for low-income households, enabling more of their money to go toward food, education and other essential expenses.
TODs typically lie within 1/4 to 1/2 mile of a transit station and feature higher density areas around their center (sometimes known as “transit villages”). TODs often include commercial, residential and employment zones as well as public spaces and green infrastructure features; additionally they may employ value capture strategies in order to increase housing affordability near transit.
5. Health
TOD promotes healthy neighborhoods that foster active transportation and an eco-friendly lifestyle, helping address specific health concerns such as obesity and diabetes.
TODs can help strengthen local economies by drawing commercial businesses to the area and creating desirable housing options that increase real estate market values in surrounding communities.
Finally, equitable TOD strategies can both increase community resilience and combat gentrification by building affordable housing near transit stations. This provides greater access to jobs, healthcare services and social support for “core riders” – who comprise most of a transit agency’s population.
TOD can also improve the financial sustainability of transit agencies that lack federal funding, especially those without grants for development of TODs. By tapping into the value created by transit via TOD development, agencies can capture its full value creation potential to invest back into improvements to create an even stronger system.