When residents take transit, they cut out the cost of cars and their associated fuel, maintenance, insurance, parking, and other costs. This saves the households money, reduces traffic congestion and greenhouse gases, and helps local businesses thrive.
TOD is popular with younger generations, who are averse to car culture and prefer sustainable neighborhoods. It’s also a key requirement for many affordable housing programs, including the LIHTC.
Walkability
People who live near transit tend to spend less on transportation, saving money and reducing carbon emissions. This can help low-income households better afford basic necessities, and it can strengthen local businesses by attracting more shoppers.
Walkability is defined by a wide range of factors, but it typically includes high-quality sidewalks and crossings, narrow streets, shaded roads, street trees, frequent local service stops, mixed use in a pedestrian-friendly environment, and well-connected residential streets.
The McKernan-Belgravia station area in Edmonton scores well for its mix of land uses and active frontages, but its pedestrian experience is hindered by a wider road network that makes it difficult to cross. The surrounding neighbourhood also lacks a well-developed public realm, and its streets are too narrow for walking comfort. Construction activity at the time of analysis reduced the walkability score for some sections, but other parts of the district perform highly. These include main streets with dense clusters of amenities, and residential streets with high sidewalk quality.
Easier Access to Transit
When neighborhoods are designed around transit, households can forgo cars and spend more at local businesses. This boosts walkability and sustainability, reduces vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gases, and centers low-income households into economic opportunity.
However, genuine TOD requires more than simply putting apartments next to a stop. It involves street grids oriented toward the station, reduced or eliminated parking minimums, active ground-floor uses, and high-frequency service that riders can reliably depend on.
The TOD market restructures around three strategic archetypes: engineering consultants mastering multimodal interchange design, vertical developers controlling high-density commercial nodes, and public agencies monetizing air rights. Competitive positioning relies on entitlement risk distribution and federal compliance navigation.
Reducing Car Congestion
Traffic congestion costs millions in lost productivity, and reducing the number of vehicles on the road will help cut those costs. By focusing on transit-oriented development, you can offer your residents easy access to the local transit system, allowing them to avoid traffic and pollution altogether.
Successful TOD strategies typically involve a tradeoff between devoting land around transit stations to development and parking facilities. Research by Tumlin and Millard-Ball and others indicates that TOD office and residential development usually generates more trips compared to non-TOD developments and generally results in higher trip shares, lower per capita vehicle ownership rates and lower per capita total transportation costs than non-TOD areas.
Millennials and Gen Zers are largely rejecting car culture, and they are seeking sustainable properties that prioritize walkability and public transit access. By following the principles of TOD, you can increase your property’s sustainability and attract these younger generations. The result will be a neighborhood that is both vibrant and environmentally friendly.
Increased Value
Whether you’re looking to sell or rent your property, transit-oriented development can increase its value. Today’s buyers and tenants want to be able to access their destinations easily without using their cars, especially younger generations who are increasingly averse to driving.
Generally, TOD promotes compact communities with a mix of uses and attention to civic spaces that make them irresistible places to live. This type of development can also increase local economic activity and lower consumer transportation costs by reducing trip generation rates and parking demand.
While TOD can offer many benefits, it is important to incorporate equity measures. When TOD initiatives do not consider affordability, they may price people with low and moderate incomes out of the market, leading to gentrification. Equitable TOD includes strategies such as affordable housing in close proximity to transit and measures that help retain “core riders” through affordable commuting options.