Smart Growth / Transportation for Livable Communities

Bay Area Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
Study Purpose, Key Questions and Study Approach

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Study Purpose

The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Study assesses the opportunities, benefits and barriers for increased levels of TOD in the San Francisco Bay Area, and helps define MTC’s policies in support of Bay Area TODs. Specifically, this study recommends policies for conditioning regional discretionary funds under MTC’s control for Resolution 3434 transit expansion projects on the demonstration of supportive land use policies by local government around transit stations and along key transit corridors. This direction was adopted in principle as part of Resolution 3434 and reaffirmed in the Commission’s adoption of its draft five-point transportation-land use platform in December 2003. The TOD Study plays an instrumental role in defining and implementing supportive land-use policies for Resoluion 3434 projects, and was conducted in close partnership with ABAG, transit agencies, local governments and other interested stakeholders.

Key Questions and Study Approach

The following key questions are addressed in the study:

Question 1 - How much opportunity for TOD exists in the Bay Area, what kinds of opportunities are there, and where are they? What does the Smart Growth Vision suggest for growth around transit? What different types of opportunities for TOD are there in the region?

• Work with ABAG to estimate the potential regional size and impact of TOD in the Bay Area. Summarize current, future and “best case TOD” conditions next to transit stations and in transit corridors in the Bay Area, including demographics, land use conditions, local policies, and transit ridership impacts. Identify types of TOD opportunities in the Bay Area by transit mode and other characteristics.

Question 2 – What policies that support transit-oriented development are being used in other areas of the country, as well as within the Bay Area?

• Summarize regional policies to support TODs, including different regional policy approaches and incentive programs from outside the Bay Area, and relevant policies from within the region.

Question 3 – What are the components of an effective regional policy to support TOD in the Bay Area?

• Assess the lessons learned from other regions and from within the Bay Area.
• Assess the existing transportation and land use planning processes within our region, and the unique characteristics and diversity of the Bay Area.
• Propose policy planning approaches that more closely link regional transit investments with corresponding levels of local land use development policies.

Question 4 – How do we test and evaluate the potential policy approaches as proposed?

• Develop and review the proposed approach with technical advisors, policy advisors, and the public.
• Conduct case studies with local jurisdictions to analyze the effectiveness of the proposed policies in detail. Refine the policy approach based on partner feedback and further analysis.
• Refine the policies based on the feedback and findings from the case studies.

Question 5 – What is the objective of the TOD Study?

• Recommend policies for conditioning regional discretionary funds under MTC’s control for Resolution 3434 transit expansion projects on the demonstration of supportive land use policies by local government around transit stations and along key transit corridors.

Study Background

The five regional planning agencies, led by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and with active participation by MTC and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), released a Smart Growth Vision for the nine-county Bay Area in 2002 that established a goal of capturing half of all new development over the next two decades around the region’s transit hubs and corridors. In December 2003, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission made a commitment to assist in the implementation of the vision by adopting a Transportation/Land Use Platform. The platform establishes MTC’s overall approach to improving the integration of transportation and land use in the Bay Area, and builds upon MTC’s Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) and Housing Incentive (HIP) programs. MTC’s Resolution 3434 provides a funding commitment of $11.7 billion for nearly two dozen new transit expansion projects in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, encompassing a range of transit technologies.

The Commission’s Transportation/Land-Use Platform

The Commission’s Transportation/Land-Use Platform calls for a stronger linkage between transportation and land use planning in the Bay Area. One of the key Platform points is to condition the allocation of regional discretionary transit funds under MTC’s control, provided by Resolution 3434, on supportive land use measures by local jurisdictions. As a key element of the platform, the Commission took a further step to condition the award of regional discretionary transit funding on supportive local land use policies. The policy states that the Commission will:

• Encourage changes to local general plans that support Transit Oriented Development for Resolution 3434 investments.

• Promote development of land uses adjacent to major transit extensions to support ridership markets that will make these investments economically feasible.

• Condition the award of regional discretionary funds under MTC’s control for Resolution 3434 expansion projects on the demonstration by local government that plans are in place supporting some level of increased housing/employment/mixed use density around transit stations.

The TOD Study provides information to assist MTC in defining how the policy to condition transit funding on supportive land use is implemented.

Study Oversight

The TOD Study was conducted by a team of consultants managed by MTC, working closely with ABAG. The Joint Policy Committee (JPC), made up of members from MTC, ABAG and the BAAQMD, monitors the study and the proposed policies, and provides policy direction. The agendas and packets for JPC meetings are available online. The Transportation and Land Use Task Force, composed of representatives from local jurisdictions, congestion management agencies, transit agencies, developers and other interested stakeholders, was used for technical review and assisting in identifying key issues in proposed policy approaches and implementation.

For more information on the Bay Area TOD Study, contact project manager Valerie Knepper at 510.817.5824, or via email at vknepper@mtc.ca.gov.

Bay Area Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Study
Scope of Work/Key Project Steps

1. Refined project scope and schedule
2. Summary of policy approaches/ incentive programs from outside and within the Bay Area to support TODs.
3. Lessons learned relevant to MTC policy development.
4. Analyses of land use and demographics (current, future and “best case TOD”) conditions and plans proximate to transit stations/hubs/corridors
   • Population, household and employment information in the areas immediately proximate to current and future transit stations, hubs and corridors for existing, forecast future, and “Best Case TOD” scenarios
   • Planned land use from local General Plans proximate to transit
5. Types of Bay Area TOD opportunities and relevance to development of policies
   
   • Types of Bay Area TOD opportunities, distribution of TOD opportunity types, and the relevance to the development of MTC policies.
   • Issues and opportunities relevant to each type of TOD opportunity, and implications for supportive regional policies.
   • Regional market conditions for development in transit corridors / stations of the regional “Best Case TOD” scenario.
   • Estimate of regional transit ridership impacts of the “Best Case TOD”
6. Overall regional policy approaches to support matched development of land use and transportation
   • Potential policy approaches including incentives and performance measures.
   • Potential performance measures for minimum densities and intensities for the programming of transit expansion funds under MTC's Resolution 3434 on supportive land use policies by local jurisdictions.
   • Effective approaches for achieving supportive local land use policies.
7. Case studies analyses. For each location:
   • Existing conditions and current plans, report on site tour and discussions with local planners and interests
   • Summaries of opportunities, including the market assessment and land use potential.
   • Summaries of the relative ridership estimates from TOD.
   • Recommended solutions or approaches to address any impediments to development of TOD
   • Recommending refinements to MTC’s policy approach.
8. Final Report, PowerPoint presentation, Briefing Book

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