Vehicle Trip Reduction Impacts of Transit-Oriented Housing (original) (raw)
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Transport Policy, 2014
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is mainly focused on providing transit service along with high density and mixed-use development to encourage transit ridership. The Maryland Department of Transportation defines TOD as "a place of relatively higher density that includes a mixture of residential, employment, shopping and civic uses and types located within an easy walk of a bus or rail transit center"(Transit-Oriented Development Task Force, Maryland Department of Transportation, 2000). TOD is a fast-growing development strategy and is becoming more popular among city planners, land developers, and government officials for its potential to increase transit ridership and reduce VMT by shortening trips. However, there has not been enough research done on how successful TODs are in providing sustainable transportation modes, which will eventually result in less energy consumption, environmental pollution, and traffic congestion in urban areas. The present study tries to understand how travel behavior is different for TOD residents in the two metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. This is done specifically by examining the changes in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in order to analyze the effectiveness of TODs on encouraging driving less and switching to transit, walking, biking, and other sustainable modes of transportation. The question of "can transit-oriented development (TOD) reduce vehicle miles of travel?" has been asked frequently, since TODswerefirst proposed and implemented in urban areas. This paper tries to find a viable answer to this question by analyzing the VMT of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore residents. Our results indicate that people living in TOD areas tend to drive less, reducing theirVMT by around 38% in Washington, D.C. and 21% in Baltimore, compared to the residents of the non-TOD areas even with similar land use patterns.
2016
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a strategy being used to reduce congestion, provide mode choice, and improve quality of life. A large amount of research has been done on individual aspects of TOD, but research specific to transportation-related benefits of TOD is limited. There is a need for traffic and transit data that is supported by comprehensive resident, employee, and user surveys to demonstrate the interrelationship between land uses, transportation, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Moreover, VMT data at the household level is essential to analyze household travel behavior and the potential for VMT related emissions reduction.
Transit-oriented Development and Household Travel: A Study of California Cities
2006
Transit-oriented developments (TODs) are usually defined as areas within a quarter-mile or half-mile of rail stops or bus transit hubs, with fairly high development density, good availability of shops and services, good pedestrian amenities, and pleasant and safe walking access to the transit center. Developing intensively near transit stations, particularly rail stations, is thought to be a policy mechanism to reduce auto use and increase the use not only of rail, but other alternative modes including bus and walking. However, existing research on the relationship between transit proximity and travel mode split for commute and non-work purposes has been inconclusive from a scholarly perspective. It is still debated whether programs to encourage development near transit have significant effects on transit use, particularly in the California context, where convenient auto access to destinations of all kinds is near-universal.
Transit-oriented development and the frequency of modal use
Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2013
Transit-oriented development (TOD) is assumed to be effective at changing the travel behavior of individuals, particularly in increasing the use of public transit, but also by increasing walking activity while decreasing driving. The analysis presented here examines the frequency of using these modes of travel for those living in TODs and proximate to a train station versus those living more distantly. Household survey data was collected for the area surrounding eight rail stations in the state of New Jersey in the United States. The models developed include factors that control for attitudes about the neighborhood where respondents reside and how long they have lived at their current residence. Other control variables to represent the urban design of the neighborhood are also included. A factor analysis of the attitudinal variables produces five factors that are used as controls in an ordered structural equation model of frequency of using public transit, walking, and driving. Results suggest that those living in TODs and closer to the train station use public transit and walk more frequently than those living farther out; they also drive less frequently than those living farther out.
Transportation, 2016
The decision on how best to allocate land around transit stations is a debated topic, with transit officials often opting for park-and-ride lots over active uses such as multifamily housing, office, and retail organized into transit-oriented developments (TODs). In this study, we identify the ten best self-contained TODs in ten regions across United States based on seven criteria: dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, adjacent to transit, built after transit, fully developed, and with self-contained parking. We measure trip and parking generation at one of these TODs, the Redmond TOD in the Seattle region, as a pilot study, using an onsite count and intercept survey. The results show that the Redmond TOD has 1.7 times more trips made by walking and 3 times more trips made by transit than Seattle's regional average. The actual vehicle trips we observed are only 37 % of the Institute of Transportation Engineers' (ITE) expected value. The actual residential peak period parking demand is only 65 % of the ITE's peak demand, and the actual commercial peak period parking demand is only 27 % of the ITE's peak demand. Additionally, the peak period of transit parking was daytime, while the peak periods of commercial and residential were evening and nighttime. There is a real opportunity for sharing parking spaces among these different uses, something which is not realized at present.
Travel characteristics of transit-oriented development in California
2004
This study provides a 2003 measurement of travel behavior in TODs in California. It supports recent efforts to build profiles and data summaries concerning TODs. Compared to the previous studies, it expands the sites surveyed and addresses a broader range of trips. It adds new residential, office and hotel sites to address new questions (e.g., travel behavior of retail workers) and includes TODs built more recently. Since many of the rail systems are relatively new, many sites that are consciously designed to be part of a TOD have emerged only in the last decade. The surveys include residents, office employees, hotel employees and patrons, and retail patrons. The study also collects more detailed data on site and neighborhood factors that potentially affect the Report Organization The following chapters provide a review of past study findings related to travel behavior and transit-oriented development (Chapter 2), describe the research approach and rationale used in this study-including benefits and drawbacks of the study's methodology and its connections to the 1993 baseline study (Chapter 3), provide an overview of the surveyed sites (Chapter 4), and present the results of the travel surveys, by project type, through descriptive statistics, modeling
Frontiers in public health, 2016
In response to traditional zoning codes that contribute to car-dependent sprawling and disconnected neighborhoods, communities are reforming their land use laws to create pedestrian-friendly areas that promote physical activity. One such reform is the adoption of transit-oriented developments or districts (TODs). TODs are higher density, compact, and mixed use areas located around transit stops that are designed to encourage walking. To identify the characteristics of communities that have adopted TODs in their land use laws and examine if communities that have included TODs in their zoning codes are more likely to have adults that commute by any form of active transportation (i.e., walking, biking, or public transportation) or by using public transportation specifically. Zoning codes effective as of 2010 were obtained for a purposeful sample of the largest 3,914 municipal jurisdictions located in 473 of the most populous U.S. counties and consolidated cities within 48 states and th...
Transit oriented development in America: strategies, issues, policy directions
TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT: MAKING IT …, 2005
Abstract: By focusing growth around transit nodes, TOD is widely viewed as an effective tool for curbing sprawl and the car dependence it spawns. By channeling public investments into struggling inner-city settings, TOD can breathe new life and vitality into areas of need. ...