Recent Blog: Half-Mile Circles Articles

Transit Oriented Development that's Healthy, Green & Just

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:07:36 -0400

The Puget Sound Sage report "Transit Oriented Development that's Healthy, Green & Just: Ensuring Transit Investment in Seattle’s Rainier Valley Builds Communities Where All Families Thrive" has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

Ensuring that TOD results in real equity outcomes requires a sharp focus on what equity means and a steady determination to achieve those outcomes, according to the report's authors Howard Greenwich and Margaret Wykowski.

This effort to break the past cycle of disenfranchisement and institutional barriers to prosperity will have benefits beyond racial equity.

"With mixed-income households able to remain in Rainier Valley neighborhoods, broader goals for regional sustainability and healthy communities will be met. Through racial equity outcomes, people of all incomes and races are able to choose to live in central, dense neighborhoods and can avoid perpetuating suburban sprawl and auto-centric living," the report's authors conclude.

The report includes a forward by Ron Sims, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Read the executive summary and download the full report.

Light Rail Without Wires

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:18:40 -0400

"Light Rail Without Wires: A Dream Come True?" a 2004 article by John D. Swanson of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

he article details the innovation of the INNORAIL ground level switched contact system, which powers the Bordeaux, France, tram with a pedestrian safe third rail.

"Based on the significant progress being made there, it seems likely the dream of having a practical alternative to overhead wires will be coming true in the very near future," Swanson concludes.

Read the full article

Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:10:13 -0400

Transit Cooperative Research Program Report 153, "Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations," has been added to the Research Center best practices database. The report offers guidelines for providing access to rapid transit stations, describes a station access planning process, and provides a high-level station access planning tool.

"The guidelines, process, and planning tool are based on a detailed review of available literature and transit agency practices, as well as case studies conducted during the course of the research," the authors note. "The materials are intended to aid the many groups involved in planning, developing and improving station access."

Key Issues

What is the best way or “process” for station planning and development?
Which groups should be included in this planning process?
What travel modes should be accommodated?
How do development densities and land use patterns affect the use of various access modes?
How can station ridership and access modes use be estimated?
What are the likely effects of parking on station ridership?
How can the sometimes-differing concerns of transit agencies and communities be addressed?
How do access issues vary between mature and new stations?
How should pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and auto access be integrated into the site plan for the station and its environs?
What guidelines underlie the provisions of park-and-ride? When are garages preferable to surface parking?
What provisions should be made for TOD and integrating station access with the surrounding neighborhoods?
Under what circumstances are feeder bus services likely to provide a cost-effective means of providing station access?
What are ways to maximize access at constrained stations?

General Guidelines

Providing access to rapid transit stations should be a cooperative effort by the transit, street transportation, and planning agencies, as well as the surrounding community. The transit agency should be proactive in this effort.
Station access plans should result from comprehensive and cooperative planning processes that identify needs and opportunities and lead to effective and accepted results.
Station access generally should be multi-modal.
The predominant access travel modes depend upon type of land use, street spacing, and development density, among other factors. Walking dominates station access in the city center and in contiguous high-density residential areas. Both walking and bus access are the main means of reaching stations within the central city. Suburban stations are typically serviced by autos, buses, and pedestrians.

Download report and CD contents

FTA's New Starts Program Will Still Evaluate Alternatives

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:00:55 -0400

The Wall Street Journal’s April 30 opinion piece, “The New Earmarkers: Cost Analysis for Transit Projects Gives Way to ‘Social Equity’”, demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Federal Transit Administration evaluates proposed transit projects under its New Starts grant program. The piece implies that proposed rules issued earlier this year would “do away with … comparative cost analysis” and would instead give more weight in the evaluation process to “social equity and environmental considerations.” This assertion is wrong on both counts.

In order to even be considered for New Starts funding, a project sponsor must have completed not one but two analyses in which various transportation alternatives are compared. One analysis is required by the New Starts program itself, under which local governments applying for funding must complete an “alternatives analysis,” defined in the proposed rule as: “a corridor-level analysis that is an assessment of a wide range of public transportation alternatives designed to address a transportation problem in a corridor or subarea.” The other comparison of alternatives is a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which transportation projects must comply with. Completion of both of these analyses and selection of a “locally-preferred alternative” – not a federally-dictated alternative - is required before a project is eligible to receive New Starts funding. This is true today, and would be true under the proposed regulations as well.

The evaluation criteria for New Starts projects are established in law. The current governing statute, SAFETEA-LU, was passed by Congress in 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. The project justification criteria that SAFETEA-LU requires are: (1) mobility improvements, (2) environmental benefits, (3) cost effectiveness, (4) operating efficiencies, (5) economic development effects, and (6) public transportation supportive land use policies and future patterns. Under the proposed rule, each of these six statutory criteria would be given equal weight in the evaluation process.

Overall, the proposed rule represents a significant improvement over the current process and can be expected to speed up project approvals – a goal with widespread, bipartisan support. The Center for Transit-Oriented Development submitted comments on the proposed rule, which can be found here.

10 Strategies for Attracting Investment Near Transit

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:25:22 -0400

The Urban Land Institute San Francisco report "10 Strategies for Attracting Investment Near Transit" has been added to the Resource Center best practices database. The 2011 report compiles five years experience from the ULI San Francisco TOD MarketPlace program.

"The TOD MarketPlace program brings together teams of for-profit and non-profit developers, economists and urban designers to form Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs), which work with city representatives to evaluate transit-oriented development plans in the Bay Area," the report explains. "The panels develop targeted recommendations for maximizing community benefits related to public investments, and present their findings at an annual TOD MarketPlace conference."

ULI San Francisco's TOD MarketPlace model has been expanded statewide in order to explore the implications of the state's high-speed rail program. The Bay Area TOD MarketPlace is also being replicated in ULI District Councils in Denver, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

"This report elevates the ten most common or compelling recommendations made by the ULI TOD TAPs over the program’s five years," the report notes. "While these recommendations were developed for specific communities in the Bay Area, there are many common lessons that can be applied in other U.S. regions aiming to implement transit-oriented development."

Read the introduction and download the full report

Distance, Dispersion and Poverty Make Difficult Choices for Public Transit

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:31:03 -0400

The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is located in the very southernmost region of the continental U.S. This area is composed of three counties with 3,643 square miles which contains a population of over 1.2 million inhabitants.¹ This land area is larger in square miles than two states (DE and RI), and has a population larger than eight states (WY, VT, ND, AK, SD, DE, MT, RI). If the distances weren’t enough of a problem for transit providers, there is the dispersion of the population over those 3,600 square miles. Dispersion occurs as a result of small, very poor housing communities called colonias.

Colonias are areas of clustered substandard housing usually lacking basic infrastructure such as paved roads, sewage lines, drainage systems, and utilities.² Because they are located in unincorporated areas, they lack access to basic municipal services such as water, electricity, and waste management and educational attainment is relatively low. Other characteristics of colonias include a persistent language barrier (most colonia residents speak Spanish exclusively), numerous health issues (diabetes and heart disease rates in colonias are among the highest anywhere in the U.S.), and lack of access to social services.³ Jurisdictionally, colonias usually fall under the purview of county governments, but their locations are scattered throughout rural areas of the lower Rio Grande Valley, making service delivery a constant logistical concern.

Click to view PDF copy of map

Residents of colonias are often the most in need of public transportation. They typify the ‘transit dependent rider’ who, but for the presence of public transit, would have no other mobility options except walking.⁴ Colonias have low rates of car ownership, have high disabled and elderly populations, and are economically impoverished.⁵

Ironically, these populations of highest need lack access to the bus route system, which limits their ability to reach social services, employment locations, and other sources of assistance.

The utmost need for public transportation in this region cannot be overstated. Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties are among the poorest counties in the United States. Bus riders average per capita income below $10,000 and are overwhelmingly disadvantaged in other ways, such as lack of educational attainment. Without bus service, these individuals would be left immobile or highly mobility-impaired. This group includes the elderly and disabled, including the 10% or so of the armed services veteran population.

Public transportation is provided in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas by three⁶ transit agencies that operate in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties. There is urban service in McAllen (City of McAllen-Metro McAllen), Brownsville (City of Brownsville-Brownsville Metro), Harlingen (Valley Metro), and over 15 additional cities (Valley Metro). Rural service is also operated in the outlying areas (Valley Metro) of the Lower Rio Grande Valley to 48 small towns and villages.⁷ These transit systems serve most of the major population centers in the area, but connectivity between them is still lacking. Connectivity with regards the smaller communities and to colonias is sparse to non-existent.

The service area also abuts the country of Mexico, which has a large impact on ridership. Daily travel patterns indicate that Mexican nationals not only account for a significant part of the local economy, but also serve as a significant source of daily passenger trips for the region’s transit systems.⁸

Service is offered by buses operating on fixed routes, flexible/deviated routes, and ADA paratransit service. Over 2.5 million passenger trips were provided in 2010, with a per capita ridership of 2.2, far below the national average of 34.⁹ A primary reason for the low ridership relates to the dispersion of the primary socio-economic class of potential riders. The large distances between cities, and the limited funding dedicated to public transportation in the area, has a deleterious effect on service frequencies (currently at an hour or more), making the service inconvenient for passengers. A basic standard of service in a transit system of similar population size in other parts of the country would demand frequencies of 30 minutes or less.¹⁰

There are several social service programs in the area that are designed to empower individuals to support their families, improve their educational status, and obtain employment. These programs take on a disproportionate importance because of the area’s demographic profile. However, they cannot be accessed without an expansive public transportation system with high service frequencies. Over 70% of all riders use public transportation for access to work or school – precisely the sorts of activities that would benefit local communities.¹¹ As previously noted, the current transit system is not sufficient to meet these needs – even corridors of highest use have service frequencies of no better than one hour with one bus per route. Moreover, the expansive service area has necessitated spreading service area coverage rather than increasing service in particular focus areas. Additional revenue is needed to both meets the needs of a large service area and increase service.

As is true with most transit systems of similar size, a lack of revenue constantly constrains the growth of transit operations. Currently, service in Hidalgo County is entirely subsidized by local, state, and FTA Section 5316 funds. Service in Cameron County is subsidized by local, state, and various federal dollars. Willacy County service is subsidized by state rural funds. There is not enough revenue to maintain current levels of service, much less any expansion of service to areas of high need, such as the colonias. Moreover, the fiscal rigidity of federal Section 5307 funds in the McAllen urbanized area, and (soon) in the Brownsville urbanized area prevent these funds from being used for general operating expenses. Annually, hundreds of thousands of dollars in FTA funding are unused because local transit agencies do not have the ability to draw them down to match local contributions to subsidize operating expenses. Instead, those funds are restricted to capital expenses.

Local contributions in the Lower Rio Grande Valley are already at their breaking point. The three largest cities in the area— McAllen, Harlingen, and Brownsville—all subsidize the public bus system through their general funds, but local contributions have remained stagnant or increased only minimally in the last five years. Eleven smaller cities provide yearly contributions that must be re-evaluated and renewed every year. This annual re-appropriation leaves the definite potential that funding may not be renewed in future years, which would necessitate service reductions. Moreover, transit service has not kept pace with population growth. From years 2000 to 2010, population in the three-county area grew 32%.¹² Despite the fact that demand for public transportation has grow concurrently with this increase, local funding has not.

The State of Texas provides some funding assistance for transit, but this amount has also remained unchanged for the last several years, with no leverage for service expansion.¹³ Currently, funds for public transportation are drawn from fuel tax revenues. In a paradoxical twist, the more cars that are driven on Texas roads, the more money that flows into public transit coffers. But public transit cannot grow if people decide to drive cars instead of using buses. In addition, fuel tax revenues are projected to decrease in future years as more fuel efficient vehicles take the road. Although this will be an environmental boon, it will result in a decrease of available funding. Local revenue options must be considered to offset any decreases.

Possible solutions to this seemingly insoluble dilemma which will allow transit providers to both survive and expand focus on a dedicated source of revenue is needed to subsidize operations in the region. A dedicated source of revenue would also ensure stability for planning purposes and allow long-range growth for the transit network. This can be accomplished in numerous ways:

Section 5307 funding dollars that are currently inaccessible should be available to match operations. Transit agencies should have the flexibility to determine internally whether these dollars are best used for capital or operational projects.
The state sales and use tax is currently at a ceiling of 8.25%. This ceiling could be raised in order to allow local jurisdictions to fund public transportation. There is evidence to suggest that voters would be willing to entertain raising the tax rate for public transportation, since transportation expenses currently account for the 2nd largest percentage of consumer spending per household (usually between 9% in transit rich areas to 25% in suburbs).¹⁴
Those cities not currently funded through their general funds should add a public transportation line item to their budget. The funding amount should be based on population to ensure fairness of contribution.
A vehicle license fee (VLF) specifically for public transportation should be considered. A minimum funding amount, either as a specific dollar value or a percentage of the total amount of all fee revenues, could be raised through this fee specifically for mass transit.
Additional sources of statewide funding assistance should be directed specifically at aiding local jurisdictions in ensuring that federal match is not lost. These local transportation assistance funds (LTAF) could be collected at the state level and disbursed on a local level depending on socioeconomic need. A potential source of LTAF could be the state lottery, such as a dedicated scratch-off game solely for transit purposes.
Texas law allows local jurisdictions to establish various forms of regional transit authorities in order to coordinate service and determine local allocation of dedicated funds. Policy makers should explore the feasibility of establishing such an authority in the region.

The most promising approach would combine one or more of these solutions in order to maximize revenue. Since state-wide initiatives have less likelihood of success by virtue of the geographic scope involved, local initiatives should take precedence, with local transit agencies forming partnerships among themselves and the people and organizations in areas of highest need.

Valley Metro is currently pursuing a path of establishing effective partnerships with local stakeholders to impress the region’s needs upon local decision-makers. Valley Metro is the lead agency in the Rio Grande Valley’s regional public transportation coordination plan, which will identify regional projects and programs of greatest efficacy and with the most promise. In addition, it is actively engaged in developing projects with local nonprofit agencies and municipalities such as Migrant Health Promotion (travel training program) and the City of Edinburg (ADA walkway enhancements). These relationships not only build trust, but unify efforts to serve many different constituencies.

At the same time, Valley Metro has managed to use grant funds to increase its span of service, service hours, and geographic coverage without requiring additional local revenue. This has resulted in a doubling of service available to colonia residents and others from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2012. This maximization of resources signals decision-makers and funding agents that public transportation can make efficient use of local dollars.

The difficulties are great and the prospects for solutions are small in this southern area of Texas. The need is tremendous and revenues are stretched thin to provide the best service possible for people in this widely dispersed area. Nevertheless, the local transit agencies are employing creative solutions to remain cost effective and provide service as efficiently as possible. As the need for public transit grows, so will the opportunities for failure. The next few years will tell the story of whether this large geographic area’s public transit can avoid that fate and adopt lasting solutions.

Endnotes

1 U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.

2 Texas Attorney General’s Office, 2011.

3 Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Office of Border Affairs, 2011.

4 Rio Grande Valley Regional Transit Coordination Plan, Demographic Needs Analysis. KFH Group Inc., 2011.

5 Rio Grande Valley Regional Transit Coordination Plan, Demographic Needs Analysis – Colonias. KFH Group Inc., 2011.

6 A fourth transit system, The Wave, operates on South Padre Island, but this system is unlike the others in that it serves a relatively affluent area, there are only two real routes that operate along one avenue in a north/south direction on the Island, and there are no fares charged for the service. This means that the system is essentially a tourist shuttle that does not provide access to jobs, medical centers, education institutions, or other services that people of low-incomes would desire to reach.

7 U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census.

8 Rio Grande Valley Regional Transit Coordination Plan, Demographic Needs Analysis – Overall Need by Density. KFH Group Inc., 2011.

9 Rio Grande Valley Regional Transit Coordination Plan, Transportation Resources Inventory. KFH Group Inc., 2011.

10 Rio Grande Valley Regional Transit Coordination Plan. KFH Group Inc., 2011.

11 Annual Rider Survey, Valley Metro, FY 2010 & 2011.

12 U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 & 2010.

13 State of Texas Transportation Improvement Program(s) Transit FY 2006 – 2014.

14 The Affordability Index: A New Tool for Measuring True Affordability of a Housing Choice, The Brookings Institution, 2006.

CNU20: The New World

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:42:57 -0400

CNU 20 Hot Topics:

Doing Well By Doing Good - Since 1982

Through bust and boom, New Urbanist projects outperformed their neighbors and through the recession they have held their value better. Building the New Urbanism means having a flexible, diversified portfolio that can weather the storms of the market without missing the peaks. At CNU 20, you will expand your ability to survive and thrive in the marketplace by appealing to different generations of buyers and catching up with the major trends in real estate.

Designing Place Collaboratively - Since 1993

The coming decades of planning will require responses to a myriad of concerns including economic, environment, fiscal, and social challenges. These challenges will require a long-term, coordinated response with solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. For over 20 years, New Urbanists have been fighting alongside fellow planners and architects for holistic, interdisciplinary solutions to our most pressing problems.

The annual Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading venue for New Urbanist education, collaboration, and networking. CNU members come from around the world to discuss development practices and public policies, learn from recent innovative work, and advance new initiatives to transform our communities.

This year, the CNU members will congregate in West Palm Beach, FL, May 9-12.

To register, visit www.cnu20.org/register

Pedestrian And Walkability Research

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:45:48 -0400

Four documents related to pedestrians and walkability have been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

The Half-Mile Circle: Does It Best Represent Transit Station Catchments?, 2011, Erick Guerra, Robert Cervero, Daniel Tischler

This report from the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Future Urban Transport tests whether the accepted half-mile distance for gauging a transit station's catchment area is accurate. One-half mile corresponds to the distance over which someone from the edge of the circle can reach a station within 10 minutes walking at 3 mph. At a little more than 500 acres in size, the area within the half-mile ring represents the spatial extent of most TOD planning. In this paper, researchers tested whether predictions of average weekday boardings and alights were more accurate at a quarter-mile or a half-mile or even three-quarters of a mile. Researchers found strong evidence that, for the purposes of estimating station-level transit ridership, changing the radius has very little influence on a model’s predictive power. "A quarter-mile radius explains variation in transit ridership across the United States just as well as a half-mile radius, which itself performs similarly to a three-quarter mile radius. This suggests that transit agencies should use the easiest and most readily available station-area data when estimating direct demand models." For making causal inferences or developing land-use policy, found some support for using a quarter-mile catchment area when looking at jobs around transit stations and a half-mile catchment when looking at population.

Walk Urban: Demand, Constraints and Measurement of the Urban Pedestrian Environment, 2008, Brittany Montgomery and Peter Roberts

This report from the World Bank studies nature's low cost, sustainable urban transport -- walking -- and comes up with five dimensions of the walking environment and their associated indicators for use by cities to survey pedestrian conditions:

Accessibility/Mobility Average walking trip time
Safety Pedestrian fatalities/population
Security Pedestrian - targeted crime rate; perception surveys
Legal Provision Pedestrian rights Public
Expenditure Percent of total urban infrastructure and maintenance funds spent on walking mode

Walking Distance Research, 2006, Fairfax County, VA, Planning Commission

The Fairfax County, VA, Planning Commission TOD Committee gathered a summary of walking distance research as of that date. The list includes: Qualitative Studies/Statements TOD Manuals from Other Jurisdictions/Transit Agencies Quantitative Studies.

Walking and Urban Form: Modeling and Testing Parental Decisions about Children’s Travel, 2003, Tracy Elizabeth McMillan

This research proposes a conceptual framework to examine the nature and shape of the relationships between urban form; interpersonal, demographic and social/cultural factors; parental decision-making and a child’s travel to school. Results suggest urban form elements such as street lights and street widths do affect the probability of a child walking or bicycling to school; however, the affect is modest compared to the perceived convenience of driving, the country of birth, the family's support of walking behavior, traffic conditions and perceived distances between home and school.

TransitRenewal 201202017

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:09:15 -0400

Sacramento Regional Transit's draft TransitRenewal 2012-2017 Sevice Implementation for TransitAction has been added to the Research Center best practices database. The document aims to position the transit district's network to sustainably meet future transit demand within its service area.

As staff explained in an April 9, 2012, board agenda document, "RT entered the TransitRenewal process with a general strategy to develop a strong core transit network and replace the service hours cut in the June 2010 service reduction through a sustainable approach to service planning. The project has a five-year time frame starting in September 2012 and ending in 2017. A key element in the network development was a focus on projected revenues and cost efficiency. The recommendations of TransitRenewal were planned within the available revenues as projected for the five year implementation time frame. In order to maintain an efficient network, the TransitRenewal strategies also propose performance goals and a monitoring system aimed at keeping the network sustainable over time."

The elements of the proposed network include:

A longer service span on bus and rail at night and on weekends
A spontaneous route network of 15 minutes or less on highly performing routes
Increased frequency of 30 minutes or less on other well patronized routes
A weekend bus network
Streamlined, more direct routes to reduce travel time
Additional service in areas of unmet need
Reinvested service hours from underperforming routes

Download the full report

Bus Rapid Transit and Development: Policies and Practices that Affect Development Around Transit

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:54:04 -0400

A 2009 report prepared by the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute, Center for Urban Transportation Research, on behalf of the Federal Transit Administration has been added the Resource Center best practices database. "Bus Rapid Transit and Development: Policies and Practices that Affect Development Around Transit" explores the relationship between land use and bus rapid transit (BRT) system development in comparison to other fixed-guideway modes such as heavy and light rail.

"As illustrated in cities such as Ottawa and Boston, significant economic development can occur around bus rapid transit stations," the reasearchers note.. The development that has occurred includes a mix of land uses including commercial, retail, residential, office, industrial, and civic, which is likely to ensure the sustainability of the particular area in which it occurs.

Researchers also not that a particular city’s approach to the transit culture shapes whether or not development occurs. "These policies and the local climate may be more of an important factor than the issue of permanence of a transit system."

Read the executive summary and download the report.

Walking, Bicycling, and Urban Landscapes: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:59:59 -0400

A 2003 working paper from Robert Cervero and Michael Duncan of University of California, Berkeley, has been added to the Research Center best practices. "Walking, Bicycling, and Urban Landscapes: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area" examines the question of what impact the built environment has on non-motorized travel (NMT) behavior.

"Our research reveals that urban landscapes in the San Francisco Bay Area generally have a modest and sometimes statistically insignificant effect on walking and cycling" the reseasrchers found. "Although well-connected streets, small city blocks, mixed land uses, and close proximity to retail activities were shown to induce NMT, various exogenous factors, like topography, darkness, and rainfall, had far stronger influences."

The researchers found demographic characteristics of trip-makers were far stronger predictors of walking and cycling than the build environment, leading them to conclude, "[P]edestrian-friendly places suited to the taste preferences of socio-demographic groups might induce more physical activity over the long run through the process of residential self-selection than overt efforts to create compact, mixed-use, gridded-street neighborhoods all over suburbia."

Read the introduction and download the full report.

CNU 20: Rediscover, Rethink & Redefine

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:14:27 -0400

This year, the CNU members will congregate in West Palm Beach, FL, May 9-12, with speakers such as Richard Florida, Dr. Richard Jackson, Leon Krier, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Norton, Galina Tachieva, Andres Duany, and many more.

CNU 20 participants will learn proven New Urbanist solutions to a number of relevant issues:

How to survive the housing meltdown
How to adapt to demographic changes
How to deliver major energy savings and slow carbon emissions
How to be ready to meet demand for a projected 50-million-unit increase in new residences by 2030

In West Palm Beach, attendees will experience excellent traditional urbanism firsthand though local tours of successful neighborhoods and see how projects are adapting to new challenges, and how getting the details right is more important than ever.

The early registration discount expires April 12.

For more information, visit www.cnu20.org

FHWA, FTA Webinar On Scenario Planning

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:18:10 -0400

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are sponsoring webinar on "New Tools in Scenario Planning: Denver Region's Metro Vision 2040 Update." The webinar will be held April 5 from 1:30 to 3pm EST.

The webinar speakers will include:

Jill Locantore, Senior Planner, DRCOG
Erik Sabina, Transportation Forecast Group Leader, DRCOG
Staff from FHWA and FTA Headquarters and the FHWA Resource Center

The webinar will also feature a peer panel composed of five scenario planning experts:

Uri Avin, Practice Leader for Regional Growth Management, Parsons Brinckerhoff
Reid Ewing, Professor of City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah
Glen Bolen, Vice President, Fregonese Associates
Kevin J. Krizek, Professor of Planning & Design, University of Colorado
Paul Waddell, Professor of City & Regional Planning, University of California-Berkeley

This webinar is designed to offer a national audience a window onto a real-time case study as the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) prepares to use scenario planning to update Metro Vision 2040 (more information). The DRCOG earned national recognition when it used scenario planning in the 1990s to develop the original Metro Vision 2020 plan and to inform subsequent plan updates. Now, as DRCOG looks forward to the next major plan update, the agency has several new tools available, including next generation land use and travel models, which can support new innovations in scenario planning.

During the webinar, DRCOG will describe the agency's previous scenario planning efforts, how scenario planning will fit into the Metro Vision 2040 planning process, and the new tools and associated data the agency has developed. An expert panel will ask questions and make initial observations on how DRCOG and webinar participants could most effectively deploy these tools. A second webinar targeted to a regional audience will be held in May 2012, during which DRCOG will continue the conversation with an expert panel and share preliminary results of a Listening Tour that DRCOG is conducting to help identify the major issues facing the region that the Metro Vision 2040 planning process will address.

The two webinars will lead to a two-day scenario planning workshop to be held in June 2012, in Denver, Colorado. The workshop, which will be co-hosted by DRCOG, FHWA, and FTA, will publicly kick off the Metro Vision 2040 planning process.

SCENARIO PLANNING WEBINAR SERIES

The April 5th webinar is the fourth in a series on scenario planning that began in September 2010.

To learn more and APPLY, go here.

A summary and recording of the April 5th webinar will be posted after the webinar on the Scenario Planning Program website.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions regarding the Scenario Planning Program, please contact Rae Keasler at rae.keasler [at] dot . gov or 202-366-0329, Faith Hall at faith.hall [at] dot . gov or 202-366-9055, or Alisa Fine at alisa.fine [at] dot . gov or 617-494-2310.

Treasury Department Releases Economic Analysis Of Infrastructure Investment

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:59:56 -0400

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers today issued a 36 page report detailing the economic benefits that accrue from infrastructure investments.

"A New Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Investment" argues that investments in infrastructure will help connect Americans in new ways to sustain communities and increase growth. Infrastructure investments would also create more livable communities, where there are more transportation choices, improved competitiveness and expanded location- and energy-efficient housing choices.

A key focus of the report is on the need for a National Infrastructure Bank that would take federal dollars and pool those with local governments and private investors.

The report notes that a well-designed infrastructure bank could:

Increase overall investment in infrastructure by attracting private capital to co-invest in specific infrastructure projects.
Improve the efficiency of infrastructure investment by having a merit-based selection process for projects.
Fill the gaps in our infrastructure funding system, which currently disadvantage investments in multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional infrastructure projects.

The report also discusses approaches for measuring congestion, the public health benefits of transit investments and building a safer and more reliable infrastructure system.

Now is an optimal time to increase the nation’s investment in transportation infrastructure, the report concludes.

"Investment in infrastructure today will employ underutilized resources and raise the nation’s productivity and economic potential in the future," the report notes. "By contrast, poorly planned, non-strategic investment is not only a waste of resources, but can also lead to lower economic growth and production in the future. That is why any increase in investment should be coupled with broad-based reform to select infrastructure projects more wisely."

TOD As A Transportation Strategy: 2001 Analysis Questions Value

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:33:30 -0400

Daniel Luscher's 2001 evaluation of transit-oriented development as a traffic congestion reduction strategy has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

Lusher's Berkeley Planning Journal article comes down strongly against using TOD as a traffic congestion panacea and suggests the whole transportation value of TOD may be overblown.

"While it may be a useful supplement to other transportation policies (such as public transit improvements and pricing strategies), transit-oriented development is inappropriate as the cornerstone of transportation planning in the Bay Area," Lusher concludes.

He points out in the study that much of the reduction seen in per capita vehicle miles travelled associated with TODs can be attributed to the increase in residential density and from closer proximity to the urban core.

"It is possible that the transit access benefit of TODs has been oversold relative to its other characteristics," he suggests.

Luscher points out that his analysis only evaluates the transportation implications of TOD.

"To the extent that TODs are part of a larger scale rethinking of urban design, they are likely to have worthwhile non-transportation benefits, such as an enhanced sense of community and the preservation of open space on the suburban fringe. They may also be a useful mechanism for increasing the supply of affordable housing and revitalizing urban neighborhoods. Transit-oriented development may make a substantial contribution to urban life, despite its limited potential for reducing travel," he explains.

Research on Factors Relating to Density and Climate Change

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:03:00 -0400

A June 2010 survey of research explores the potential of residential density to reduce climate change by reducing vehicle miles driver.

"Research on Factors Relating to Density and Climate Change," written for the National Association of Home Builders by Abt associates, summarizes and synthesizes the literature in several key areas.

"The research on the relationship between density and travel is virtually unanimous: after controlling for socioeconomic factors, density directly influences VMT and mode choice," the report notes. "However, the weight of the evidence suggests that the effect of density on travel behavior is modest (roughly 5 percent reductions in VMT and vehicle trips with a doubling of density). In comparison, large increases in regional accessibility (accessibility to regional centers), are found to have a much larger impact on travel behavior – roughly 20 percent reductions in VMT.

The report cites three primary factors affecting the relationship between residential density and the climate via travel behavior. First is the trend toward decentralization of employment from city centers. The second factor is the increasing number of households with two workers who often commute to different locations. The third factor is the recent increase in non-work trips.

Read the executive summary and download the full report

Gentrification Trends in New Transit Oriented Communities: Evidence from Fourteen Cities that Expanded and Built Rail Transit Systems

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:44:23 -0500

The January 2007 "Gentrification Trends in New Transit Oriented Communities: Evidence from Fourteen Cities that Expanded and Built Rail Transit Systems" has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

The article by Matthew E. Kahn from the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate explores the impact of transit-oriented development on housing prices in 14 cities between 1970 and 2000.

Among the report's findings: "Communities receiving increased access to new 'Walk and Ride' stations experience greater gentrification than communities that are now close to new 'Park and Ride' stations."

Read the introduction and download the full report

Density Matters

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:48:24 -0500

An article and a research paper that explore the life and death nature of urban density have been added to the Research Center best practices database.

Urban Growth and Decline: The Role of Population Density at the City Core

This 2011 article from Economic Commentary, which is published by the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, explores the population density of urban cores. and suggests there are reasons to think that loss of population density at the core of the city could be particularly damaging to productivity and therefore the potential for productivity gains from policies aimed at reversing that trend.

Urban Densities and Transit: A Multi-dimensional Perspective

This 2011 report from the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Transportation Studies, investigates the relationship between transit and urban densities in the United States. The researchers' analysis suggests that light-rail systems need around 30 people per gross acre around stations and heavy rail systems need 50 percent higher densities than this to place them in the top one-quarter of cost-effective rail investments in the U.S. The ridership gains from such increases, the research showed, would be substantial, especially when jobs are concentrated within a quarter-mile of a station and housing within a half mile.

Discussion Paper On The Evaluation Of Economic Development

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:39:00 -0500

A Federal Transit Administration Office of Planning and Environment document from 2008 discussing how FTA might evaluate the potential economic development impacts of projects applying for New Starts funds.

The "Discussion Paper on the Evalution of Economic Development" grew out of an effort in 2005 to develop quantitative measures of the economic development impacts of transit. In 2007, FTA convened a panel of experts to consider the potential methodologies available to measure the economic development benefits of transit.

"The approach described in this discussion paper is not a modeling approach and does not rest on forecasts of economic development," the authors explain. "Rather, it describes a method based on an assessment of the key conditions that FTA believes contribute to and facilitate the economic development impacts of transit projects."

Read the introduction and download the full document

Updated and Expanded H+T Index

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:52:44 -0500

The Center for Neighborhood Technology will hold a webinar Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. CST to discuss the latest updates to the Housing + Transportion Affordability Index.

CNT's Scott Bernstein and Peter Haas will unveil an updated and expanded H+T Index, which uses American Community Survey 2009 5-year estimates, covers 900 metropolitan and micropolitan areas across the country (89 percent of the US population), and has an improved and more robust transportation model. Bernstein and Haas will demo the site and discuss key findings from the Index.

The H+T® Affordability Index provides the only comprehensive view of affordability by accounting for combined housing and transportation costs at a neighborhood level.

Reserve your Webinar seat now

The effects of street connectivity on walkability and access to transit

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:30:46 -0500

A 2010 doctoral dissertation on the effects of street connectivity on walkability and access to transit has been added to the Resource Center best practices. "Walking to the station: The effects of street connectivity on walkability and access to transit" was written by Ayse N. Ozbil for his Doctor of Philosophy degree in the College of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The thesis analyzes how far urban density, mixed land-uses and street network connectivity are related to transit walk-mode shares and walking distances to/from stations. Among Ozbil's conclusions:

Urban form (including density, land-use and street network configuration) affects the proportions of patrons walking to/from the station.
Transit oriented policies are better supported by urban development policies and zoning and subdivision regulations that encourage transit-friendly urban forms.
The scale at which urban form has an impact on pedestrian travel is of the order of a mile radius, rather than a few blocks around the station.
Transit oriented policies are compatible with policies aimed at the enhancement of health and the reduction of obesity through daily physical activity.
Emphasis on the contribution of transit-oriented development to the spatial structure of the street network, over and above the impact of sidewalk provision and design and pedestrian safety.

Read the summary and download the full dissertation.

Lessons for Increasing Choice Ridership While Maintaining Transit Dependent Ridership

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:45:42 -0500

A report from the Mineta Transportation Institute at the San José State University College of Business has been added to the Resource Center best practices database. "Lessons for Increasing Choice Ridership While Maintaining Transit Dependent Ridership" examines the Atlanta transit system in an effort to identify what types of policies would expand the use of transit by choice riders while at the least not hurting transit-dependent riders.

"Transit commuters who consider themselves rail riders, who primarily access transit by automobile, want trains to take them to major employment destinations, including the CBD and some TODs. Serving more choice riders will require extending lines into job-rich corridors and developing stations and station environments in those corridors with those qualities typical of the TODs like North Avenue and Midtown. The more that can be done with a network of several regional rapid transit lines, the greater the increase of choice riders using transit in the Atlanta region," the authors report. "If a transfer to a bus is required to complete the trip, the service will attract lower status workers who nonetheless will live in auto-oriented environments and will make use of autos to access the system."

Such an effort would be costly to build and operate, but rewards would be realized.

"Regional riding habits would increase substantially without sacrificing productivity, while operating cost per passenger would decline. Both transit-dependent and choice riders would use this expanded network in larger numbers than they use the present one," the authors conclude.

Read the excutive summary and download the full report.

Some Facts To Counter The Myths About Higher Density

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:05:32 -0500

A 2005 report "Some Facts To Counter The Myths About Higher Density," authored by the Urban Land Institute along with the National Multi Housing Council, Sierra Club and the American Institute of Architects, has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

The authors of the report explain: "The purpose of this publication is to dispel the many myths surrounding higher-density development and to create a new understanding of density that goes beyond simplistic negative connotations that overestimate its impact and underestimate its value."

The report takes on these myths:

Higher-density development overburdens public schools and other public services and requires more infrastructure support systems.
Higher-density developments lower property values in surrounding areas.
Higher-density development creates more regional traffic congestion and parking problems than low-density development.
Higher-density development leads to higher crime rates.
Higher-density development is environmentally more destructive than lower-density development.
Higher-density development is unattractive and does not fit in a low-density community.
No one in suburban areas wants higher-density development.
Higher-density housing is only for lower-income households.

Read the introduction and download the full report

FTA To Hold Applicant Webinars For State Of Good Repair, Bus Livability And Clean Fuels Grant Opportunities

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:43:15 -0500

FTA will conduct informational webinars on February 29th and March 1st for applicants to the Fiscal Year 2012 State of Good Repair Initiative, Bus Livability Initiative and Clean Fuels Grant Program funding opportunities. The webinars will provide an introduction to the programs, information on applicant and project eligibility, and a review of the criteria that will be used to select projects. Participants will also receive step-by-step instructions for completing the required forms and submitting their application in www.grants.gov.

All Webinar Participants must pre-register by Feb. 24 through the following link: FY 2012 Discretionary Webinars . Due to the limited number of available phone lines, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Webinar 1: When: Wednesday, 29 February 2012, 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM Eastern Time

To register for this event, please go here.

Webinar 2: When: Thursday, 1 March 2012, 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time

To register for this event, please go here.

District of Columbia Streetcar Land Use Study, Phase One

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:58:19 -0500

The phase one land use study for the proposed District of Columbia streetcar system has been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

An accompanying letter from theHarriet Tregoning, director of the District Office of Planning, explains, "The Streetcar Land Use Study provides an assessment of the citywide benefits of the system in terms of access to jobs and schools, quality of life, transportation costs for households, job growth, and real estate impacts. The study also considers potential challenges to the introduction of streetcar service such as the impact on historic and cultural resources, housing costs and small business retention. The report examines the benefits and challenges along each proposed corridor and proposes adjustments to phasing and small segments to maximize mobility and economic development benefits of the investment."

Dead the letter from Tregoning and download the report.

A Framework For Transit Oriented Development In Florida

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:01:55 -0500

The Florida Department of Transportation's "A Framework For Transit Oriented Development In Florida" has been added to the Resource Center best practices.

The purpose of this framework is to provide planners, developers, elected offcials, and the general public with a Florida-specifc resource for TOD and transit planning. The framework includes TOD place types that address land use and urban design considerations for transit station areas. Presented with both qualitative and quantitative information, they can help planners and developers assess how transit-ready existing development patterns are and help guide decision making in the direction of creating more compact and transit supportive development patterns in the future. Additionally, the framework is intended to assist local governments in defning TOD areas as part of their local government comprehensive plans and to implement recommended development standards for TODs to better support local transit services.

"As a framework document, it does not provide a how-to guide but rather illustrates the key considerations and questions to be addressed when embarking on TOD and transit planning in the Florida context," the introduction notes.

Read the introduction and download the framework.

Joint Development Webinar Resource Materials Added To Resource Center

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:50:14 -0500

A pair of reports provided as background documents for the Center for Transit-Oriented Development webinar "Making Joint Development Work: the Federal, Transit Agency and Business Perspective" have been added to the Resource Center Best Practices.

Forming Partnerships to Promote Transit-Oriented Development and Joint Development

This American Public Transportation Association Standards Development Program Recommended Practice is designed to guide transit agencies in partnering with businesses and community entities to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) and joint development. It includes guidelines to assist transit agencies in defining policies and practices for advancing, supporting and implementing transit-oriented development and joint development. This Recommended Practice is for both transit agencies seeking to form partnerships, and for individuals, organizations or local government staff and elected officials seeking to partner with transit agencies on transit-oriented development or joint development.

Livable Portland: Land Use and Transportation Initiatives November

This publication tracks the evolution of Portland, Oregon's, light rail system, describes the land use planning efforts that support vibrant station areas and illustrates TriMet's approach with selected transit-oriented developments and self-guided tours. The report illustrates how partnerships among regional agencies, local governments, private sector investors and citizen activists have shaped the region.

Economic Value of Walkability

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:35:47 -0500

The Victoria Transport Policy Institute's "Economic Value of Walkablilty" has been added to the Best Practices in the Resource Center.

This report, which was released, Feb. 1, 2011, describes ways to evaluate the value of walking, the activity, and walkability, the quality of walking conditions, including safety, comfort and convenience). The report notes that walking and walkability provide a variety of benefits, including basic mobility, consumer cost savings, efficient land use, community livability, improved fitness and public health, economic development, and support for equity objectives. The report finds current transportation planning practices tend to undervalue walking. The author suggests that more comprehensive analysis techniques described in the paper will increase public support for walking and other nonmotorized modes of travel.

Download the report here.

Adding To The Resource Center's Best Practices Database

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:05:03 -0500

We have piles of documents our researchers have come across that merit inclusion in our Best Practices database. For the next week or so we'll be adding at least one a day. After each report is uploaded, we'll post a short explanation here.

Today's report:

"Mapping Susceptibility to Gentrification: The Early Warning Toolkit," an August 2009 report by Karen Chapple, Faculty Director of the Center for Community Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley.

From the introduction:

This report was prepared for ABAG as part of its Development without Displacement project funded by an environmental justice grant from CalTrans. This project is meant to increase regional and local understanding of gentrification and displacement, and in particular increase awareness of equitable development policies that jurisdictions can use to capture the benefits of new growth for their current residents. The purpose of this report is to create an early warning toolkit to help communities identify whether their neighborhood is susceptible to gentrification as reinvestment occurs. This in turn suggests potential for displacement — but does not necessarily predict it. In order to understand future displacement potential more fully, a jurisdiction would need to combine the toolkit with an assessment of its existing affordable housing policies and stock, as well as the effects of any proposed redevelopment plan.

Read the introduction and download the report

EPA Grants Award Process Webinar

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:54:22 -0500

The Office of Grants and Deparment will host an EPA Grants Award Process Webinar on Feb. 23 at 2pm EST. The webinar will cover grants management topics, including how to find and apply for grant opportunities; FFATA reporting requirements; and preparing a proper budget detail. In addition, we will be hosting a Q&A session during the second half of the webinar. More information is available here.

Benchmarking America's Efforts To Promote Bicycling And Walking

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:39:36 -0500

Alliance for Biking & Walking's 2012 report "Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report has been added to the Resource Center's best practices database.

Alliance for Biking & Walking is the North American coalition of grassroots bicycling and walking advocacy organizations. The research was funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. AARP and Planet Bike also contributed support for the report.

From the Executive Summary's conclusions:

"While many state and local communities are making sufficient efforts to promote bicycling and walking, much more work needs to be done. Barriers in staffing and funding remain a consistent limitation to promoting bicycling and walking. Bicycling and walking make up 11.5% of all trips, and 13.5% of traffic fatalities, and yet receive just 1.6% of federal transportation dollars.

"The proven environmental, economic, and personal health benefits that bicycling and walking offer are evidence that increasing bicycling and walking levels are in the public good, yet a much greater investment is needed throughout the U.S. This Benchmarking Report identifies which cities and states are leading the way and provides links to resources from these communities."

Read the executive summary and download the full report

Upgrading Your Search Experience

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:49:26 -0500

As an organization that does a lot of research, we at Reconnecting America appreciate the importance of quickly finding something. That's why we recently asked our website developer to enhance the tagging system for our content.

When browsing our content tags, it is now possible to select more than one tag and thus limit the results to content that contains all of the selected tags.

For example, over in the Research section, where we have our Best Practices database, we currently have 11 research papers that touch on issues in Sacramento, California. We also have 34 research papers discussing bus rapid transit. By checking both Sacramento and Bus Rapid Transit, you'll find we have a paper entitled "Sacramento Regional Transit: A Guide To Transit Oriented Development."

But our research collection is only a portion of our content here. We also have news about Reconnecting America's activities, this Half-Mile Circles blog, Jeff Wood's Other Side of the Tracks newsletters, our staff-written Platform newsletter and Press Releases. Our News and Resources page lists all of the tags associated with thAT content, and now it too has check boxes allowing quick narrowing of search results.

For example, we have 260 articles tagged with Streetcar and 82 articles about what's happening in Cincinnati. Those combined narrow the results down to 41 articles. And if all you are interested in is the funding for the Cincinnati streetcar, you can add "Transit Funding" to "Cincinnati" and "Streetcar" and browse the 16 articles that are tagged with all three of those tags.

Try it out. If you find any mis-tagged content or content that should have had additional tags, let me know. You can contact me here.

Getting on the Right Track: Real-world Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:17:00 -0500

The Federal Transit Administration will hold a free workshop on climate change adaption on March 21-22 in Arlington, Va. "Getting on the Right Track: Real-world Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation" will be held 1310 North Courthouse Rd, Suite 600, Arlington, Va.

This effort is part of FTA’s climate adaptation initiative, which includes the Jan. 17 Center for Transit-Oriented Development webinar "TOD and Climate Change Webinar."

The draft agenda for the FTA workshop is online here.

Workshop Highlights:

Interactive exercises
GIS tools
Breakouts by discipline
Presentations from engineers, climate scientists, planners
Discussions with representatives of climate adaptation pilot projects

Highlighted Speakers:

Therese McMillan, Deputy Administrator, FTA
Jeffrey Knueppel, Chief Engineer and Assistant General Manager, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
Harriet Tregoning, Director of the Washington DC Office of Planning
Dr. David Major, Senior Research Scientist, Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research
David Springstead, Senior Director of Engineering & Development, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA)

Workshop Objectives:

Share analytical methods and tools for climate adaptation;
Shape ongoing and future transit adaptation assessments by determining successful approaches;
Develop strategies for mainstreaming climate considerations into transit agency processes such as operations, maintenance, emergency management, capital planning, long term transportation planning, and environmental management systems;
Gather transit industry input into FTA climate adaptation planning.

Who should attend:

Representatives of public transportation agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, state departments of transportation; public transportation professionals from the broad range of fields impacted – engineering, planning, safety, emergency management, operations, sustainability, etc.

Sign up here.

Transit Mode Shares for Sports Venues

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:21:45 -0500

The New Starts Working Group led by Reconnecting America Board Member Jeff Boothe of Holland and Knight has put together a nifty chart showing the share of riders that take transit to sporting events in some major cities. While not all cities and transit agencies are represented, it's a nifty snapshot of how transit is an important part of a multi-modal strategy for getting people to the game. Not surprising to anyone who has been to a Timbers game and seen the madness, Jeld-Wen Field in the heart of downtown Portland boasts a 40% mode share. I'm sure the folks in Seattle will be looking for ways to better that next season.

Jeld-Wen Field in Portland via Google Earth

Stadium Transit Mode Shares

USDOT Announces TIGER III Award Recipients

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:14:53 -0500

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced the recipients of the third round of TIGER grants. USDOT is awarding a total of $511 million to 46 innovative transportation projects in 33 states and Puerto Rico. The program was heavily oversubscribed, with only about 5% of the 848 applicants receiving awards. The total amount requested from all applicants was $14.29 billion. While road projects make up approximately half of the awards, a quarter of these ($64 million worth) are complete streets projects aimed at making the roads more accommodating to pedestrians, bicyclists, and other users. Transit projects constitude 29% of the awards, following by port (21%) and freight rail (10%) investments. Altogether, TIGER grants will fund ten different transportation modes. Communities large and small received awards. Thirty percent of the $511 million will go to projects in twenty rural communities.

In his press release announcing the awards, USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood emphasized the potential jobs that will be created out of these projects. He stated:

“The overwhelming demand for these grants clearly shows that communities across the country can’t afford to wait any longer for Congress to put Americans to work building the transportation projects that are critical to our economic future,” said Secretary LaHood. “That’s why we’ve taken action to get these grants out the door quickly, and that is why we will continue to ask Congress to make the targeted investments we need to create jobs, repair our nation’s transportation systems, better serve the traveling public and our nation’s businesses, factories and farms, and make sure our economy continues to grow."

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program provides funding to innovative transportation projects that will have a significant national or regional impact. According to the USDOT website, projects are chosen

“For their ability to contribute to the long-term economic competitiveness of the nation, improve the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems, increase energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improve the safety of U.S. transportation facilities and enhance the quality of living and working environments of communities through increased transportation choices and connections. The Department also gives priority to projects that are expected to create and preserve jobs quickly and stimulate increases in economic activity.”

In previous rounds, the USDOT awarded TIGER grants to 126 transportation projects in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Combined wit this third round, the USDOT has received over 3,200 applications requesting $93 billion, far more than the $2.6 billion available, according to Transportation for America.

A map of TIGER grantees from all three funding rounds is available on Transportation for America’s website here.

The official press release is available here.

The full list of awards is available here.

TRB Session on Trams Will Bring the French Perspective

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:02:15 -0500

There's been a lot of discussion recently on the issue of streetcars, light rail, and dedicated guideways. Some focus heavily on the development side of building streetcars while many others have discussed the accessibility and service side, mentioning that a streetcar stuck in traffic is no better than any other transit mode. While this discussion lives on in the United States, Europe has been quietly resurecting tram lines dedicated to getting people around the regions they support. While many of the Eastern Block countries kept thier tramways, western nations such as France ripped many of them out after the war.

In some places like Freiburg, they've built whole communities while Paris has brought them back to life on some main corridors. This January at the Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington DC, International experts from France will come to discuss how they've built tramways in Europe and what we can learn from them. I wish I was going along with half the blogosphere considering this is one of the sessions that could likely start a fire and keep an intense debate going about the subject. Sure it might be a bit technical but it would be fun as well!

Greg Thompson, who has done some great research at Florida State on the subject is the organizer so go ahead and check it out if you get a chance. I know it's early, but it will be worth it!

State-of-the-Art Light Rail: Lessons from France

Jan 23, 2012 8:00AM- 9:45AM

Presentations:
  Drivers of French Light Rail Success: Preliminary Findings (P12-5808)
     Parkinson, Tom - Consultant, British Columbia, Canada
     Currie, Graham - Monash University, Australia
  SYSTRA: Perspectives of Leading French Consulting Company on French Light Rail Success (P12-5809)
     Diaz, Diego - SYSTRA Consulting Inc.
  Veolia Transdev Perspectives on French Light Rail Transit Success (P12-5810)
     Guyot, Hubert - Veolia Transdev, Netherlands
  Designing Trams to Serve Historic Districts and Modern Tracts With Speed, Capacity, and Elan (P12-6239)
     Messelyn, Christian - Alstom Transportation Inc., France

Feeding The News

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:51:23 -0500

If you subscribe to both the Half-Mile Circles blog and our Other Side of the Tracks news feeds you may have noticed that the Other Side of the Tracks hasn't updated since Nov. 15, shortly after we changed how we post the Tracks newsletter content. Apparently, Feedburner, the service we run our feeds through, can't handle the length of the articles.

Since we can't at the moment modify the size of our feed, we are making available the direct URL for the feed.

If your Other Side of the Tracks feed is stuck on Nov. 15, subscribe to this address --> ractod.org/OSotTrss

Nathan Landau's Car-Free Los Angeles

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:34:00 -0500

Have you ever gone to a city and wondered where to go to eat or drink? You might pull out your iPhone and search for restaurants but it might be hard to get to the good ones. Well at least in one city there is a handy go to guide to finding your way to those special spots without a car. It happens to be in Los Angeles.

Nathan Landau, who has a day job planning transit for AC Transit here in the Bay Area, has written a really cool guide to car-free exploring in Southern California. He even let's you know which agencies allow surfboards! It reads a bit like a Rick Steves european travel guide but focused on a travel corridor rather than a single district or church. This is a great thing because taking an architecture walk is often impossible if you can't get there without driving.

All in all I hope residents and visitors to Southern California and LA get this book and use it. At some point people will see Los Angeles for what it is and will be in the future, a transit city. This floats to the top in this book rather than the stereotype autocentric place we see on TV.

Transportation Ballot Measures Mixed in 2011 Election

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:57:11 -0500

As the returns came in late last night from elections all over the country, a few big tickets passed handily while a some others crashed and burned. Several smaller regions rejected tax measures that would have supported expansion of vital services while larger projects such as bus and rail improvements in Durham North Carolina and Cincinnati Ohio had winning days. 22 of 28 projects have passed this year in an analysis put together by the Center for Transportation Excellence which has a listing of the results.

Reviews are up for some of the larger wins and losses last night. Yonah Freemark discusses what the election means for Durham over at the Transport Politic and the Urban Cincy Blog discusses what it means to finally get a full cast of support for the streetcar moving forward. Finally Vancouver Washington got a .2% jump in thier sales tax to support the ongoing work of the local transit system CTRAN.

Several others just didn't have the same good luck. The car tab measure in the City of Seattle lost big, the sales tax in Pierce County Washington lost by not as much, and several smaller ballot measures in places like Lorain and Trumbull County Ohio will have cause the towns to drastically cut transit service after the losses.

Some of the returns are still out such as Tim Eyman's tolling initiative in Washington State which would have banned the use of toll money for non-transportation uses and stopped tolling once a project was paid off. At last look it was losing but it will be watched closely as absentee ballots are counted.

Next year is likely to be a huge year for ballot measures and initiatives given the presidential election. We look forward to following that progress.

A Quick Look At Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Transportation Bill

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:07:32 -0500

The policy staff at our partner, Transportation for America (T4), have pored over the 600-plus pages of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee transportation bill draft, released on Nov. 4, and come up with an informative summary.

As T4 points out, one of the most visible changes proposed is to restructure seven core highway programs and 13-plus formula programs into just five core highway programs. This graphic illustrates those changes.

This bill only authorizes highway-related programs. The transit and rail portions of the federal transportation programs are handled by other committees.

Read the Transportation for America analysis

TOD Marketplace 2011

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:17:23 -0400

With 48 miles of FasTracks now under construction, transit-oriented development has the potential to capture roughly half of all Front Range growth in compact communities. With this region poised to grow again, metro Denver has an opportunity to showcase its transit system and its development opportunities to a national audience of developers, lenders, brokers, investors, and companies seeking to locate within TOD.

On Nov. 17, ULI Colorado’s TOD Marketplace: Real Places, Real Projects, Real Deals will provide opportunities to make deals at one of dozens of station areas in the FasTracks network.

Registration is open now. For more information, visit ULI Colorado - TOD Marketplace

Featured speakers:

Emerick J. Corsi Jr., President Of Forestcity Real Estate Asset Services.: ForestCity is the nation’s largest TOD developer. Emerick brings a deep knowledge of the business and understanding to all related functions of developing shopping centers, town centers, power centers and mixed-use developments. He has been with Forest City Enterprises for over 30 years, dividing his time between leasing, asset management, development, and third-party business, always in a position of leadership. In his current capacity, he is responsible for directing and leading all company real estate services activities in the US. During the development and construction of over 13 million square feet, Emerick has participated in the development of large scale, mixed-use, TOD, including: The Avenue at TowerCityCenter, Cleveland; AtlanticCenter, Brooklyn; and Westfield San Francisco Centre.
Steven E. Goldin, Director Of Real Estate Services, Washington Metro Transit Authority: When you think of successful TOD you think of the Washington, DC, Metro system. Steven E. Goldin is Director of Real Estate for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the nation’s 2nd largest rail system. He is currently overseeing 35 million square feet of public/private Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, while working closely with key Federal officials to advance public policy to foster TOD nationally. Mr. Goldin’s extensive experience as a private developer includes Chairman and CEO of InterCap Holdings, a Princeton, NJ firm specializing in mixed-use transit oriented development.

Diane Barrett, City and County of Denver
Dena Belzer, Strategic Economics
Steve Blarr, Weston Solutions
Kimball Crangle, Denver Housing Authority
Lou DellaCava, LJD Property Management and Development
Tim Eachus, Jones Lang LaSalle
Daniel R. Guimond, Economic & Planning Systems
Timothy Haahs, Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc.
Carl Koelbel, Koelbel & Company
Peter Kudla, Metropolitan Homes
Art Lomenick, PB Placemaking
Scott McFadden, Prospect, LLC
James Mulligan, Snell & Wilmer
Jim Musbach, Economic & Planning Systems
Bruce C. O'Donnell, George K. Baum & Company
Chuck J. Perry, Perry Rose LLC
John Renne, TOD Group
Brad Segal, Progressive Urban Management Associates
George Thorn, Mile High Development
Jeffrey Tumlin, Nelson/Nygaard
Marilee Utter, ULI - the Urban Land Institute
Tim Van Meter, Partner/ Architect & Urban Designer, Van Meter Williams Pollack, LLP
Phil Washington, General Manager, RTD
Molly Winter, City and County of Boulder
Rebecca Zimmerman, Design Workshop

Lessons From Germany For American Transit, Sustainability

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:15:21 -0400

A pair of papers by reachers Ralph Buehler of Virgina Tech and John Pucher of Rutgers along a third article by Buehler have been added to the Best Practices in the Research Center.

Sustainable Transport in Freiburg: Lessons from Germany’s Environmental Capital, by Buehler and Pucher, examines changes in transport and land-use policies in Germany over the last 40 years that have encouraged more walking, bicycling and public transport use.

Making Public Transport Financially Sustainable, by Buehler and Pucher, examines how over the past two decades Germany has improved the quality of its public transport services and attracted more passengers while increasing productivity, reducing costs, and cutting subsidies.

Promoting Public Transportation: Comparison of Passengers and Policies in Germany and the United States, by Buehler, explores socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of public transportation riders in Germany and the United States, and analyzes the differences in public transportation policies in the two countries.

The state of our nation’s busiest bridges

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:16:35 -0400

Transportation for America has released a report focusing the deteriorating condition of bridges in the largest 102 metropolitan areas. "The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Busiest Bridges" continues its analysis of the National Bridge Inventory, which found one in nine U.S. bridges has been rated “structurally deficient.”

"The impact of a failure to attend to our bridges became all too clear in September, 2011, when the governors of Kentucky and Indiana were forced to close the busy Sherman Minton Bridge in metropolitan Louisville after inspectors found cracks in its structural beams. The closure made national headlines as Louisville traffic was snarled and millions of Americans wondered about the condition of the busy bridges they have to cross each day," the report notes. "With the majority of American bridges soon due for major maintenance, overhaul or replacement, scenarios such as this could begin playing out with increasing frequency absent concerted effort and investment."

California leads the nation with the busiest deficient bridges, taking several top spots when ranking metros. The daily volume in Los Angeles was more than double that of second place New York.

"As an increasing number of our bridges reach – and pass – their original design life spans, repairing the nation’s biggest and busiest bridges will require a national strategy that is not possible under a program where money is distributed to states by formula with little accountability," the report notes.

The T4 report recommends:

Require states to develop asset management plans that prioritize the repair and maintenance of aging roads and bridges.
Ensure that money set aside for repair can’t be spent on other things.
Local governments must play a stronger role in setting transportation investment priorities to ensure funding will be directed to the most pressing repair.
Congress should resist the temptation to cannibalize safe walking and bicycling programs in the name of bridge repair.

Over 300 Transit Projects To Receive Funding from the Federal Transit Administration

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:48:15 -0400

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced the Fiscal Year 2011 award recipients for three of its discretionary grant programs: Alternatives Analysis, Bus Livability and State of Good Repair. A total of $928.5 million is being awarded for over 300 transit projects across the country. The FTA received 839 applications for these three funding programs, representing $4.9 billion in requests from transit providers. These grants include a combination of capital, operating and maintenance projects. The Alternatives Analysis grants are focused on studying options for future transit service; the Bus Livability grants will go toward the replacement or refurbishment of aging buses and bus-related facilities; and the State of Good Repair grants will fund improvements to existing transit fleets and facilities.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff made the announcement in Detroit, Michigan. LaHood stated:

"Investing in America’s transit systems, rails, roads, ports, and airports will generate tens of thousands of construction-related jobs and put more money in the pockets of working Americans," said Secretary Ray LaHood. "But we must do more. Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act so we can continue to invest in critically needed projects like these, to repair and rebuild our nation’s transportation system.”

Rogoff stated:

"These grant funds will make sure that bus service in our communities remains reliable and desirable while putting thousands of Americans to work at the same time,” said Administrator Rogoff. “By passing the American Jobs Act, Congress can accelerate these efforts and give the American people the opportunity to keep more of their paycheck in their wallet rather than hand it over at the gas pump."

Grant recipients include:

Alternatives Analysis:

$2 million for an Alternatives Analysis of the second phase of the planned Woodward Avenue transit corridor in Detroit.
$2 million for an Alternatives Analysis of two central corridors in Indianapolis which will form the backbone of a proposed regional transit expansion.
$1 million for an Alternatives Analysis of the five-mile South Central Corridor in the City of Phoenix.
$760,000 for a streetcar analysis in New Haven, Connecticut.
$600,000 for a transit corridor study of the Midtown Corridor in Minneapolis.

Bus Livability:

$5.4 million for Seattle’s Sound Transit to replace its aging buses with hybrid-diesel buses.
$2.1 million to Omaha’s transit agency to construct three new multimodal transit centers to replace current on-street hubs.
$768,000 to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) in California to start a bike sharing pilot program at four commuter rail stations.
$554,473 to Austin’s Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to install bike facilities at major transit stations, as part of its Last Mile Program.

State of Good Repair:

$25 million to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to replace aging buses.
$6.7 million to Alameda-Contra Costa Transit to replace elevators and upgrade buildings to meet environmental standards.
$1.5 million to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to develop an integrated asset management system that will allow it to track the condition of the agency’s fleet, facilities, and equipment.

The press release is available here.

A full list of grant recipients by state is available here.

A full list of grant recipients by funding program is available here.

Transit-Oriented And Joint Development

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:52:57 -0400

Transit Cooperative Research Program's Legal Research Digest article "Transit-Oriented And Joint Development: Case Studies And Legal" has been added to the best practices in the Research Articles.

The August 2011 article updates the Zoning and Real Estate Implications of Transit-Oriented Development article originally published in 1999 when the world of TOD and transit-oriented zoning codes was new and untested.

"This digest attempts to trace these developments, beginning with an overview of the significant literature since the late 1990s," the report notes. "The literature summary is followed by a comprehensive survey of recently adopted federal, state, and regional statutory and regulatory programs promoting or facilitating TOD and joint development and a review of related case law. The digest’s third section provides detailed case studies from Portland, Oregon; Oakland, California; Chicago, Illinois; Plano, Texas; and Morristown, New Jersey. These case studies, while illustrating important legal issues, demonstrate that TOD success extends beyond laws, financial mechanisms, and public–private contracts. The report concludes that these constructs, while instrumental to the success of TOD and joint development, are indicative of a more basic foundation at the root of every successful project—leadership from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors."

Read the introduction and download the full article here.

Follow All The Action At 2011 Rail~Volution, Washington, DC

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:52:41 -0400

Reconnecting America and its partners in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development are out at Rail~Volution in Washington, DC, Oct. 16-Oct. 19. A list of their workshops and seminars is here.

Follow all of the tweets from 2011 Rail~Volution in Washington, DC, on our page here.

Find out more about Rail~Volution, including a video interview with Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith,on our Join The Rail~Volution page.

Pretax Transit Benefit Parity

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:10:33 -0400

Legislation that would maintain tax benefits for commuters who use transit is pending in Congress. If the legislation is not passed, the allowable pretax transit and vanpool benefit will drop from its current $230 a month to $120.

The 2010 Tax Extension Package temporarily set the transit and vanpool benefit maximum to $230 a month, the same as the amount allowed for parking. Under previous federal law, employers could offer employees up to $230 a month in pretax parking benefits or $120 a month in pretax transit or vanpool benefits. The disparity created a financial incentive for employees to drive alone to and from work.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would make permanent parity between the transit and parking benefits. Unless Congress acts, the transit and vanpool portion of the benefit will revert back to $120 a month on Dec. 31, 2011. Inaction to make parity permanent would be the equivalent of placing a tax on employers who provide this benefit and workers who utilize public transit and their employers.

More information about the legislation is available at commuterbenefitsworkforus.com

The Pitfalls Of Tax-Increment Financing And The Need For Reform

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:58:52 -0400

The U.S. PIRG Education Fund has released "Tax-Increment Financing: The Need for Increased Transparency and Accountability in Local Economic Development Subsidies," a research report exloring the pitfalls of tax-increment financing used by cities to fund community development.

Among the problems identified:

Tax-increment financing sometimes fails to benefit the public
The process for creating and managing TIF districts often fails to protect the public

The report concludes that TIF should be narrowly targeted and temporary and should be governed in open, democratic processes. In addition, TIF district information should be easily accessible and developers should be held accountable for keeping promises made to secure TIF financing. To that end, the report says stronger guidelines and greater accountability are needed in the administration of tax-increment financing.

Read the executive summary and download the full report.

The Mile High Transit Opportunity Collaborative: How A Group of Nonprofits and Philanthropic Foundations Are Working to Ensure Equitable TOD in the Denver Region

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:25:06 -0400

The Denver region is currently embarking on one of the most ambitious and extensive fixed-guideway transit expansions in the country. Other regions are watching closely to see how the network gets built out and if development patterns reorient themselves around new transit stations, hoping to emulate our success. The region’s cities and counties have been busy preparing land use plans for new stations over the past few years, yet so far most remain long-term visions, lying in wait until stations open or developers line up to build. There are also concerns that transit-oriented development will not benefit the populations which need it most—low-income households and communities of color--which typically spend a greater percentage of income on housing and transportation.

Equitable TOD should provide greater access to opportunities for everyone, including better connections between housing, jobs and essential destinations. To ensure that the FasTracks buildout achieves this outcome, a group of nonprofits and philanthropic foundations, including Reconnecting America, have come together to form the Mile High Transit Opportunity Collaborative (MHTOC). Supported by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, MHTOC is spending the next year engaging in a number of activities that will help implement equitable TOD in the Denver region, including:

Creating a Regional Equity Atlas mapping out the Mile High region’s demographics, housing, employment, education and health features, overlaid with the planned transit network to demonstrate the importance of this infrastructure investment to the opportunities available to all of the region’s residents.
Holding educational events for local and regional stakeholders to raise awareness about equitable TOD and generate interest in supporting it.
Exploring the expansion of the existing Denver TOD Fund, which finances land acquisition near transit stations, to a regional level.
Developing criteria for site-specific work, with the goal of selecting several transit stations to focus our community outreach, technical assistance and advocacy efforts in the coming years.
Supporting the region’s 2011 application for a HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant.

The groups comprising MHTOC hope to spur discussion among local and regional decisionmakers about why increased transportation options and affordable housing opportunities near transit are important to the overall health and vitality of the regional economy. The Denver region is already far ahead of many other regions, and along with similar existing collaboratives in which Reconnecting America is a participant, including Central Corridor Funders Collaborative ( Twin Cities) and Great Communities Collaborative (San Francisco Bay Area), the region is setting a precedent for how regions can invest to become more livable, sustainable, inclusive and affordable for everyone.

For more information on TOD and equity, see Reconnecting America’s Featured Topic on TOD and Equity

Model Design Manual for Living Streets

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:03:04 -0400

Los Angeles County's new Model Design Manual for Living Streets has been added to the best practices database in the Research Center.

More than a simple manual for how Los Angeles will redesign its streets to make them safer, more inviting public spaces, this manual was created as a template for any jurisdictions that finds itself up against outdated standards and guidelines that prevent changes.

"This manual may be modified, customized, or expanded upon at the pleasure of the end user. We hope that by making it widely available, many more communities will fulfill their dreams in making and remaking their streets valuable public space that serves many needs," the authors note.

The full manual is 384 pages and includes sections on

Vision, Goals, Policies, And Benchmarks
Street Networks And Classifications
Traveled Way Design
Intersection Design
Universal Pedestrian Access
Pedestrian Crossings
Bikeway Design
Transit Accommodations
Traffic Calming
Streetscape Ecosystem
Re-Placing Streets: Putting The Place Back In Streets
Designing Land Use Along Living Streets
Retrofitting Suburbia
Community Engagement For Street Design

Bus Advertisements from Around the World

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:36:58 -0400

Bus advertisements are often seen as a way to generate revenue for struggling transit agency bottom lines. Sometimes they are of interest but mostly the wraps are copies of ads that you would see in many different places. Though some go the extra mile to be more entertaining and use pieces of the bus that helps get the point across. Naphtali Knox who edits the Northern California APA newsletter forwarded along a number of entertaining images of bus advertisements around the world. We are hoping folks can help us identify where they are from as well as enjoy the creativity that some of these ads bring. Post in the coments if you know where they are from. Enjoy!

Note: You can find a lot of these and other images in other blog posts such as this one at Creative Bits and Oddee.

International Lessons For High-Speed Rail

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:30:42 -0400

The Northeast Corridor and California are the two most promising regions where the United States should pursue high-speed rail initially, according to a new report "High-Speed Rail: International Lessons for U.S. Policy Makers."

The report written by Petra Todorovich, Daniel Schned, and Robert Lane was prepared with the Regional Plan Association as part of the Lincoln Institute/Regional Plan Association joint venture partnership known as America 2050.

Drawing from nearly 50 years of international experience with high-speed rail, the report assembles key lessons and research on the potential benefits of high-speed rail and documents the approaches to high-speed rail that best leverage public investments for transportation benefits, economic development, and environmental and safety concerns. The report also offers recommendations for federal policy and explores various funding and financing strategies, as well as ideas about station location and design.

How an Ailing Rust-Belt Town Was Rebuilt From the Grassroots Up

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:27:11 -0400

Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith will be a participant Oct. 13 in a panel discussion following the screening of “The Blood in This Town,” a film chronicling how Rutland, VT., an ailing rust-belt town, was rebuilt from the grassroots up. The screening will be at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Auditorium, at 6pm.

Once a boomtown built on railroads, quarries and manufacturing, Rutland is like thousands of other small towns and cities left behind in the wake of globalization and hit by the economic downturn.

Rutland’s act of giving blood in record-breaking numbers becomes a powerful symbol of renewal and social change that radiates throughout the community - in initiatives to engage new ideas and create sustainable businesses, world-class natural recreation, farm-to-table networks, entrepreneurial start-ups, and the revival of a historic downtown.

The screening and panel discussion is part of a series of events that seek to bring together community leaders, urban planners, business people and government officials to engage local citizens and fuel an exchange of revitalization ideas and solutions. The screenings and discussions seek to encourage local participation and action to create a more vibrant, sustainable future for small towns.

The register to attend, click here.

More about the film

Don't X Out Public Transportation Rallies

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:29:17 -0400

Don't X Out Public Transportation rallies are being scheduled around the country for Sept. 20. At the rallies, public transit riders, advocates and employees will call on Congress to support public transportation by opposing proposed cuts of more than one third to federal transportation funding.

Here's the list of rallies as of Sept. 14:

Birmingham, Alabama
Rally at 17th Street and Morris Avenue (Map)
3:00 – 5:00 PM
Boston, Massachusetts – Details TBD
Chicago, Illinois
Rally at Union Station, 251 N Clinton Street (Map)
4:00 PM
Cleveland, Ohio
Rally on the Public Square, Frankfurt Avenue and Ontario Street (Map)
12:00 PM
Fall River & New Bedford, Massachusetts
PLEASE NOTE: This event is taking place on Sept. 21.
Rally at City Hall with the Mayors at 2:00 PM; we will march from the Fall River bus terminal to City Hall at 1:45 PM
Greensboro, North Carolina
Rally at J. Douglas Galyon Depot Transportation Center, 236 E. Washington Street in Greensboro (Map)
10:00 AM
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
CamTran drivers will be wearing red armbands and handing out ‘Don’tX’ stickers to passengers all day. CamTran passengers, remember to wear red on September 20th to show your support for your public transit system!
Los Angeles, California
Rally at Northeast corner of S. Western Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard (Map)
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Miami, Florida – Details TBD
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rally at Government Plaza Station on 5th Street between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue (Map)
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
New York, New York - Details TBD
Oakland, California
Rally on the corner of Broadway and 14th Street (Map)
4:00 PM
Providence, Rhode Island
Rally at Kennedy Plaza (Map)
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Springfield, Massachusetts
Rally on the corner of Main Street and Lyman Street (Map)
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Worchester, Massachusetts – Details TBD

A proposed 35 percent cut in federal funding for public transportation would lead to service delays, overcrowding, fare increases and cutbacks to the number of vehicles running, leading to longer wait times. These cuts would have a severe effect on the country’s ability to create and sustain jobs, further hampering efforts to stimulate and grow the national economy.

Don’t X Out Public Transportation Day is the combined effort of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Los Angeles Bus Riders Union, National Association of Public Transportation Advocates in Action (NAPTA), Reconnecting America, Transit Riders for Public Transportation, Transportation for America (T4), the Transportation Equity Network, Transportation Workers Union (TWU), Urban Habitat and transit systems and advocates across the country.

For more information and to learn about local events in communities across the country visit www.supporttransit.org.

Measuring Transit's Impact On Housing Prices

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:07:46 -0400

Several papers that seek to measure the impact of transit on home values have been added to the best practices Research Aricles.

Public Transit’s Impact on Housing Costs: A Review of the Literature (2011)
This brief summarizes research exploring the ways in which public transit has been shown to influence housing costs for owners and renters in the United States
Land Use Impacts of Bus Rapid Transit (2009)
This report documents an effort to quantify the impacts of BRT stations on the values of surrounding single-family homes.
The Impact of Railway Stations on Residential and Commercial Property Value: A Meta-analysis (2007)
This paper attempts to explain the variation in the findings by meta-analytical procedures. Generally the variations are attributed to the nature of data, particular spatial characteristics, temporal effects and methodology.
The Impact of Transit Corridors on Residential Property Values (2007)
The findings reveal that proximity to the transit corridor alone without direct access conveys a negative impact on nearby housing values.
Gentrification Trends in New Transit-Oriented Communities (2007)
Communities receiving increased access to new “Walk and Ride” stations experience greater gentrification than communities that are now close to new “Park and Ride” stations.

Sept. 20 is Don’t X Out Public Transportation Day

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:42:42 -0400

Public transit, riders, advocates and employees will join together for Don’t X Out Public Transportation Day on Sept. 20, 2011, to call on Congress to support public transportation by opposing proposed cuts of more than one third to federal transportation funding.

Riders, workers and supporters from across the nation will participate in this national rally day to send a message to Congress that this level of funding cuts is unacceptable and will have a drastic impact on the millions of Americans who rely on public transit every day.

For more information and to learn about local events in communities across the country visit www.supporttransit.org.

Introducing GreenTRIP: Building Certification for Truly Transit-Oriented, Green Development

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:40:06 -0400

The LISC Green Development Center, in partnership with TransForm, will hold a free webinar Sept. 28 at 2pm EDT that explores the new GreenTRIP certification program. Register here.

Transportation is increasingly being recognized as a key component of building communities that are socially equitable and environmentally sustainable. Green building certification systems - such as LEED and the Living Building Challenge- are going beyond building performance and increasingly placing more weight on location as a green strategy. Taking this concept a step further, an innovative new certification program "GreenTRIP" was recently launched by Bay Area based group, TransForm, to encourage development of communities that not only consume fewer resources and provide healthier living environments but also reduce traffic and offer residents a new form of affordable, sustainable living.

Currently in its pilot phase, GreenTRIP has successfully certified five projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. By rewarding multi-family, mixed-use, in-fill projects that apply comprehensive strategies to reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions, these projects have resulted in:

Easier approvals for 1,970 cutting-edge TOD homes
Less driving and CO₂, more transit
Lower car ownership
Deeper affordability for families

GreenTRIP shows that new development can occur with less parking and more walkability, without limiting residents' mobility or increasing traffic and air pollution. Speakers will feature two new GreenTRIP certified projects (South Hayward Affordable Family and Senior Housing in Hayward and The Ohlone in San Jose) and explain both how and why GreenTRIP was developed as a transportation tool to promote greater housing affordability in transit rich neighborhoods.

Presenters:

Ann Cheng, GreenTRIP Program Director, TransForm
Hans Larsen, Director of the San Jose Department of Transportation
Andrea Osgood, Project Developer, Eden Housing
Julia Prange, Assistant Program Officer, LISC Green Development Center (moderator)

For more information on GreenTRIP and TransForm, visit: www.GreenTRIP.org.

The Truth About MPOs

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:20:09 -0400

Transportation Equity Network and Gamaliel will hold a webinar Aug. 25 at 4pm EDT entitled "The Truth About Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)." This the second in a series of free monthly seminars. This webinar will cover the importance of MPOs, the ways in which current legislation shapes MPOs, and stories of actual engagement with MPOs from TEN leaders and organizers. Register here.

Panelists will discuss the purpose of MPO's, stories of MPO engagement from TEN leaders and organizers, and finally how to organize around your MPO.

These monthly webinars are aimed at community leaders, activists, advocacy organizations, and anyone who wants to learn more about organizing for transportation equity.

New Brookings Report Looks at Access to Public Transportation and Jobs Among Those Who Don't Own Cars

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:15:18 -0400

Yesterday, the Brookings Institution released a new report focusing on access to public transportation among those who do not own a vehicle. The report, “Transit Access and Zero-Vehicle Households,” reveals that approximately 700,000 American households don’t own a car and also don’t have access to public transportation in their neighborhood. Over 7.5 million households do not own a car in the largest 100 metro areas, representing 10% of all households in these metro areas. To reach these and other findings, Brookings collected data from the American Community Survey and 371 transit providers that serve the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The report is a follow-up to Brookings’ report on access to jobs via transit, “Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America,” which revealed that 70% of people live in neighborhoods with public transportation, yet only 30% of jobs are accessible via public transportation within a 90-minute commute. This follow-up report paints a somewhat rosier picture for households who don’t own a car—90% live in neighborhoods with public transportation, and 40% of jobs are accessible via public transportation within a 90-minute commute. When one looks at the details, however, there are still major disparities between those households living in the city versus the suburbs, as well as between different geographic regions. Access also varies by income and race/ethnicity.

Cities vs. suburbs: Most zero-vehicle households live in the city—61.7% live in the 132 primary cities of the 100 largest metro areas. Households living in these primary cities have far better access to transit than those living in the suburbs—99.2% in the cities vs. 58% in the suburbs. In 31 metro areas, more than half of suburban zero-vehicle households live in neighborhoods without transit service, representing 263,000 households.

Geographic regions: The majority of households who don’t own cars live in just seven metro areas—New York City (28%), Chicago (5.3%), Los Angeles (4.8%), Philadelphia (4.1%), Boston (3%), the San Francisco Bay Area (2.6%) and Washington, D.C. (2.6%). The average of the other 93 metro areas combined is just 0.5% in comparison. Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are the worst-performing large regions—each houses over 1% of all zero-vehicle households, but collectively, 100,000 zero-vehicle households in these regions have no access to transit. Metro areas in the Northeast do the best job of connecting zero-vehicle households to transit (44.4%), followed by the West (43.7%), Midwest (35.4%) and South (33.1%). Thirteen of the twenty best performing metros are in the West, while eleven of the worst performing are in the South. Six of Florida’s eight metro areas rank in the bottom twenty.

Equity: In terms of income, 59.8% of zero-vehicle households have incomes below 80% of the area median income. The share is similar between cities (59.8%) and suburbs (59.7%). In contrast, only 23.9% of all vehicle-owning households in these 100 metro areas are low-income. In only three of the 100 metro areas are less than half of ZVH’s also low-income households (New York City; Lakeland, FL; and Oxnard, CA). With respect to race/ethnicity, 36.4% of zero-vehicle households are White, 27.7% are Hispanic, and 25.3% are African-American.

So do these zero-vehicle households use public transportation to get to work? Brookings found that 59.7% of zero-vehicle households in the city use public transportation to get to work, compared to 25.4% in the suburbs. This implies that three-quarters (75%) of suburban zero-vehicle households need an alternative mode to get to work.

The results of this study present what Brookings calls a “transit paradox”—zero-vehicle households live in neighborhoods well-served by public transportation, and transit agencies align their routes to serve these people. Yet this service falls short in connecting these households to jobs throughout the region, even though job access via public transportation is better for zero-vehicle households than it is for vehicle-owning households.

The full report is available here.

Profiles for each of the 100 metro areas analyzed in this study are also available here.

TIGER Webinars On Project Readiness And Public Private Partnerships

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:55:36 -0400

The U.S. Department of Transportation will continue its webinar series next week. On Monday, Aug. 22, the webinar will discuss the expectations for project readiness and NEPA. On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the webinar discuss the application process, public private partnerships and credit assistance through TIFIA challenge grants in the next round of TIGER Discretionary Grants.

This webinar are designed to provide applicants an opportunity to engage with USDOT, ask questions and gain direction to make applications competitive in the next round of TIGER. The on-line webinars are held from 1pm to 2:30 pm EST. There is no charge to attend, but advance registration is required.

Aug. 22: Project Readiness/NEPA
Aug. 24: Public Private Partnerships & TIFIA

DOT is authorized to award $526.944 million in TIGER+ Discretionary Grants. As with the TIGER and TIGER II programs, funds for the FY2011 TIGER program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area or a region.

(These webinars are not associated with "Webinar Helps Rural Areas Apply for Federal TIGER Grants")

Future DOT TIGER Grant webinars will discuss:

Aug. 30: MARAD Port Outreach

Previous DOT TIGER Webinars have been archived and are also available over the next several months.

2010 Benefit/Cost Analysis Practitioner’s Workshop
July 18 How to Compete for TIGER Seminar
July 27 “Talking Freight”
August 17 Benefit Cost Analysis

Healthy And Livable Community Resources

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:59:46 -0400

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has this new resource guide on Healthy & Livable Communities. It’s a good compendium of links, research studies, case studies, etc.

From the website:

The prevalence of low-density, automobile-dependent communities has resulted in unsustainable lifestyles that increasingly threaten human health and well-being and cause social inequities, economic insecurity, and environmental degradation. The increased reliance on cars in disconnected communities creates sedentary lifestyles with inflated housing and transportation costs and increased carbon emissions. More importantly though, the lack of access to environments that encourage daily exercise, provide clean air and water, and offer affordable services and nutritious food has meant growing epidemics of depression, obesity, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease.

Working with landscape architects, communities can promote human health and well-being by encouraging the development of environments that offer rich social, economic, and environmental benefits. Healthy, livable communities all improve the welfare and well-being of people by expanding the range of affordable transportation, employment, and housing choices through "Live, Work, Play" developments; incorporating physical activity into components of daily life; preserving and enhancing valuable natural resources; providing access to affordable, nutritious, and locally produced foods distributed for less cost; and creating a unique sense of community and place.

HUD Schedules Two Webinars To Help Grant Applicants

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:39:31 -0400

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) recently issued two Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) for their FY 2011 Community Challenge Grants Program ($95 million in grants available) and FY 2011 Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program ($28 million available). In order to help applicants, a pair of webinars have been scheduled:

August 11, 3:30 – 4:30 PM EDT: Community Challenge Planning Grant program
August 12, 1:00 – 2:00 PM EDT: Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program

The webcasts will be hosted by OSHC staff to provide overviews of the respective programs followed by time for viewers to ask questions. To watch the webcast log onto www.hud.gov/sustainability beginning one hour before the webcast start time for a link to the presentation.

Community Challenge Grants Program: Deadline is September 9, 2011.

Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program: Pre-application deadline is August 25, 2011.

Program Descriptions

The Community Challenge Grants Program (CC) provides grants to enable communities in fostering reform and reducing barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities. Such efforts may include amending or replacing local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes, either on a jurisdiction-wide basis or in a specific neighborhood, district, corridor, or sector to promote mixed-use development, affordable housing, the reuse of older buildings and structures for new purposes, and similar activities with the goal of promoting sustainability at the local or neighborhood level. This Program also supports the development of affordable housing, including artist housing, through the development and adoption of inclusionary zoning ordinances and other activities such as acquisition of land for affordable housing projects.

Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program (SCRP) provides grants to help improve regional planning efforts that integrate housing and transportation decisions, and increase state, regional, and local capacity to incorporate livability, sustainability, and social equity values into land use plans and zoning. The program supports metropolitan and multi-jurisdictional planning efforts through a consortium-based model that brings together numerous groups including arts- and design-based organizations to inform the planning process.

Both programs, now in their second year build on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an innovative interagency collaboration, launched by President Obama in June 2009, between HUD, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide more sustainable housing and transportation choices for families and lay the foundation for a 21st century economy.

Do's and Don'ts of Transit Tax Elections

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:48:46 -0400

The Mineta Transportation Institute has completed an analysis of the dos and don'ts of running ballot campaigns for rail transit projects. "Revisiting Factors Associated with the Success of Ballot Initiatives with a Substantial Rail Transit Component" continues previous work that reviewed transit tax elections in 11 urban areas and developed 17 community-level factors that influence the success or failure of the ballot measures.

The review of more recent elections generated findings consistent with the early research.

"Thus this analysis reaffirms the importance for community consensus amongst the business, elected and environmental communities, and accompanying depth of financial support. Once again, the difficulty of passing an initiative without well-funded, effective use of multimedia was validated, as was the importance of utilizing experienced campaign consultants," the researchers noted.

The new research looked at:

Maricopa, AZ (November 2, 2004): Success
Seattle (November 6, 2007): Failure
Charlotte, Mecklenburg County (November 6, 2007): Success
City and County of Honolulu (November 4, 2008): Success
Los Angeles County (November 4, 2008): Success
Kansas City, MO (November 4, 2008): Failure
St. Louis County (November 4, 2008): Failure
Santa Clara County (November 4, 2008): Success

Revisiting Factors Associated with the Success of Ballot Initiatives with a Substantial Rail Transit Component

Invitation To TIGER Webinar Series

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:49:54 -0400

The U.S. Department of Transportation's next webinar on the TIGER Grant process will discuss the expectations for the Benefit-Cost Analysis requirement in the next round of TIGER Discretionary Grant applications. The on-line webinar will be held from 1pm to 2:30 pm EST. There is no charge to attend, but advance registration is required. Register here.

(These webinars are not associated with "Webinar Helps Rural Areas Apply for Federal TIGER Grants")

Future DOT TIGER Grant webinars will discuss:

Previous DOT TIGER Webinars have been archived and are also available over the next several months.

More Connections To Jobs

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:50:13 -0400

We've added another piece of research to the Best Practices' growing archive of research articles showing the link between jobs and transit. "Understanding the Impacts of Transitways: How Light-Rail Transit Improves Job Access for Low-Wage Workers" is a 2010 two-page summary of research performed by Yingling Fan for the Transitway Impacts Research Program at the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Large areas of accessibility gains along bus routes connecting to the Hiawatha line illustrate the regional impact of light rail, and reinforce the role a fully-integrated transit network plays in maximizing transitway investments, according to the report

"In summary, researchers found the Hiawatha light-rail line provides significant benefits for transit-dependent low-wage workers—improving transportation equity in the Twin Cities," the report concludes.

Understanding the Impacts of Transitways: How Light-Rail Transit Improves Job Access for Low-Wage Workers

More about the Transitway Impacts Research Program

Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities Webinars

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:21:18 -0400

The Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) will host webcasts on this year's Community Challenge Grants and Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program.

Community Challenge NOFA Webcast:

Thursday, August 11th 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Check www.hud.gov/sustainability one hour before the webcast for a link to access the webcast.

Regional Planning NOFA Webcast:

Friday, August 12th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Check www.hud.gov/sustainability one hour before the webcast for a link to access the webcast.

BRT in the Central Valley; Denver's FasTracks Jobs Connection

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:04:38 -0400

A working paper from the UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport and a GIS paper about Denver's FasTracks that won an APTA award have been added to the Best Practices research articles.

The Berkeley study, "Advancing Bus Rapid Transit and Transit Oriented Corridors in California’s Central Valley," explored possibilities for advancing BRT systems and associated higher density land development in the Central Valley of California. Researchers used photo-simulations and stakeholder reactions to visual images to gauge public attitudes toward what would be a fairly radical transformation of urban environments in traditionally car-oriented settings.

"While we entered into this research assuming that stakeholder conversations would help articulate which elements of [transit-oriented corridor] designs were most liked and which were not, what our research perhaps most clearly showed is the disconnect between transit and urbanism in the minds of many," the report conculdes.

Researchers found a clear disconnect between high-end BRT and the kinds of urban land-use and streetscape transformations that would be needed to support such radically improved transit services.

Participants generally liked the idea of improved transit services, including BRT, but only as long as it did not encroach on road space occupied by Stockton motorists. And as for growing “upwards instead of outwards” in the form of taller buildings, researchers found participants were generally uncomfortable with this prospect, even when higher densities were matched by a richer package of urban amenities.

"Unless considerably higher densities are embraced and politically accepted, high-end transit services will remain a pipedream in settings like Stockton," researchers concluded.

The University of Colorado, Denver, paper by Patrick Picard, "GIS Analysis of Population and Employment Centers in Metro Denver Served by RTD’s FasTracks" used a GIS analysis to determine just how well Metro Denver residents and employees would be served by FasTracks.

"This study revealed that the planned FasTracks rail expansion will do a reasonably good job at serving Denver area residents, and a very good job at serving employees, although there is much room for improvement," the report concludes. "In addition, it was determined that, of the unfunded rail corridors, the Northwest Corridor to Boulder and Longmont would serve the most people, despite the fact that the current plan is to build this corridor last."

Advancing Bus Rapid Transit and Transit Oriented Corridors in California’s Central Valley

GIS Analysis of Population and Employment Centers in Metro Denver Served by RTD’s FasTracks

Norm Garrick - A Good Transportation System Minimizes Unnecessary Transportation

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:18:04 -0400

Norm Garrick discusses the importance of Walk Score, the Lessons of Lewis Mumford and how a good transportation system actually minimizes unnecessary transportation.

Helping Rural America Win Federal TIGER Grants

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:20:00 -0400

The first of two webinars designed to help rural communities take advantage of the Department of Transportation's TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants will take place Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. EDT.

Click here to register

USDOT announced on July 1, 2011, that it would offer a third round of the popular TIGER grants, which fund innovative, job-creating transportation projects. The $141 million set aside for rural communities represents nearly 27 percent of the total $526.944 million DOT is authorized to distribute through the program.

The outreach effort to support rural communities in submitting strong applications for this funding is supported by a number of organizations, including Reconnecting America, the American Public Transportation Association, the National Association of Development Organizations, the National League of Cities, PolicyLink, Rural Assembly, Smart Growth America, and Transportation for America.

Webinar speakers will include

Beth Osborne, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at USDOT, will present overivew of TIGER.
Alia Anderson, Program and Policy Associate at Reconnecting America, will discuss past innovative rural transportation projects.
Courtney Payne, a Government Services Specialist at the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, will showcase a successful rural.

Downtown Carrollton Rail Station Master Plan Phase Two

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:43:28 -0400

The April 2009 Downtown Carrollton Rail Station Master Plan Phase Two report has been added to the Best Practices research articles.

The document includes conceptual project development of the transportation components (passenger corridor alignment, track work and passenger transportation hub referred to as the “station complex”), a framework for civic/open spaces and transit-related, mixed-use development within a general ¼-mile radius of the station.

The Master Plan also addresses the cost of public infrastructure and private development components of the project. Total public infrastructure costs for the ultimate development plan is $63 million. The proposed private development costs are $518 million within three development phases for a total project cost of $581 million in 2008 dollars. The private development budget is based on a building program and phasing plan established by a market study provided by the City. Based on the development plan, a Total Development Budget and Developer Pro Forma will be created for all phases of the development. The Pro Forma illustrates the necessary gap financing and funding mechanisms to achieve financial feasibility for the entire project. Available local, state and federal funding programs suitable for transit-oriented development are identified to supplement the available Tax Increment Financing (TIF) alternatives already established.

Downtown Carrollton Rail Station Master Plan Phase Two

Station Area Planning for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:40:06 -0400

Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Railroad Policy and Development has a released a station area planning guideline designed to be a reference tool for state transportation departments and local and regional jurisdictions.

The document, "Station Area Planning for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail," seeks to help local jurisdictions to accomplish successful station area planning and achieve an optimal integration of the station in its context — to ensure ridership growth and capture livability, sustainability, and economic benefits.

"Rail stations will differ depending on their location — downtown, airport transfer, suburban, and small town," the report notes. "While every station area is unique and should reflect local context, culture and climate, some common principles apply to the creation of forms and public spaces regardless of location. This document offers three such principles along with recommended strategies for the creation of places that invite people to stay and enjoy, and that enhance the economy and sustainability of the region."

The station area planning principles draw upon established transit-oriented development concepts. These hold that through compact development and enhanced transit, walkways and bikeways, TOD can increase access, or the ease of connection between places at the scale of the station area. This in turn enables the transport network to increase access for passengers at the scale of the city.

"As the United States improves its rail infrastructure, the associated advancement in high-speed and intercity passenger rail service represents an unparalleled opportunity to make cities with stations more enjoyable and more economically vibrant," the report concludes. "To foster enthusiasm for this vital planning effort, advance the state of practice, and to help to maximize the riderhip and livability benefits of the rail service to the community, FRA has prepared this document as a reference tool."

Station Area Planning for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail

New PolicyLink Guide Helps Communities Incorporate Equity Into Their Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Applications

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:31:13 -0400

In anticipation of HUD’s release of the Notice of Funding Availability for the latest round of Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grants, PolicyLink has released a guide to help applicants incorporate equity into their applications. The guide goes step-by-step through the grant application with specific instructions on how to fill out each section with an equity lens, as well as how to engage and include groups that focus on providing greater access to opportunity for low-income populations, communities of color, and other underserved populations. The guide cites Reconnecting America’s analysis of the previous round of grant recipients, which found equity to be one of nine common themes from winning 2010 applications.

The guide starts by describing why equity is important to sustainable communities. Equity ensures that all residents can access and take advantage of the region’s economic, social, and environmental assets. It also ensures that there is fair and just inclusion in all decisionmaking processes. Due to demographic changes, America is becoming more diverse, and population growth is overwhelmingly among nonwhite racial and ethnic groups. Yet we aren’t currently investing adequately in this new majority.

To apply for this grant, regions must form a consortium with participation from a diverse array of organizations, including those whose core mission is to promote equity. PolicyLink recommends including equity-based groups in the consortium, as well as giving them decisionmaking authority throughout the application process and life of the grant. The lead applicant, which in most regions will be the metropolitan planning organization (MPO), should reach out to the equity- and community-based organizations well ahead of time to ensure the consortium has their support. In addition, equity groups need to reach out to the MPO to be sure they are included.

Because the application requires extensive data analysis of the region’s population, regions should go above and beyond HUD’s requirements and stratify data by race/ethnicity, income and other equity-relevant demographic groupings that could further build the case for equity-based strategies. The Statement of Need should describe the region’s problems with equity and highlight the opportunities that more inclusionary planning can provide to the region.

In the narrative section, which makes up the largest portion of the application and is worth the most points, the application should address how the regional plan will “build inclusive communities free from discrimination, and advance access to economic opportunity for all segments of the population.” Equity-based groups that participate in the process should play a key role in identifying activities and focus areas for the grant in this section. They should review existing plans and decide which aspects are useful as a baseline, and then decide what new information is needed. In addition, the overlay of sectoral dynamics (transit corridors, job centers, housing density, housing affordability) with demographic dynamics (high poverty communities, communities of color, communities of affluence) forms the basis for how to envision key things that need to happen to create more sustainable, prosperous, and equitable regions. The community engagement process should be front-and-center, and the application should discuss how the planning process will engage a large constituency of residents, including those from low-income communities and communities of color in such a way that they have an effective role in shaping the regional vision.

The report goes on to detail budget and local match ideas to elevate equity, and concludes with strategies that would help evaluate program outcomes with an equity lens.

The full report is available for download here.

The Advance NOFA from HUD is available here.

Read Reconnecting America's guide to creating a strong application here.

Jarrett Walker - Frequency is Freedom

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:38:12 -0400

Jarrett Walker discusses what he believes is the biggest communications failure of public discussions about transit. Frequency. At CNU in Madison, Walker discusses the lack of discussion on this important subject.

Jarrett Walker - Designing Transit Lines to "Be On the Way"

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:07:07 -0400

Jarrett Walker who writes for Human Transit often talks about designing transit systems that work for people. In this interview at the CNU in Madison, Wisconsin, we asked Jarrett to describe his transit design theory, "Being On the Way".

Norman Garrick: Street Networks are the Building Blocks of Cities

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 02:09:26 -0400

Norm Garrick, CNU Board Member and one of the leads on the transportation networks program discusses what they have been working on and how street networks are the building blocks of cities.

Yonah Freemark - Advice for Aspiring Transport Bloggers

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:09:01 -0400

Anyone want to start a blog? It can be daunting. What do you want to write about? Who is your audience? Will people read? Those are questions that go through many people's heads before they take the plunge. Yonah Freemark who writes the wonderful Transport Politic discusses what he's learned so far in the blogging process. He has some advice for folks looking to start thier own blogs and its definitely worth a listen.

Jeff Tumlin - Business Expansion and City Office Space Needs

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:43:34 -0400

Recently San Francisco got a slight scare. Its most famous tech company was expanding fast and needed space for new workers. However, the amount of office space needed was either split over multiple buildings or outside of the city. We often talk about the need to keep companies in cities and make sure they have incentives to stay, however this might be one of the major challenges of keeping buisinesses in the places where people can take transit or bike/walk to work. Jeff Tumlin of Nelson Nygaard discusses building floor plates and what that means for companies that want to stay in cities.

USDOT Announces Third Round of TIGER Grants for Innovative Transportation Projects Around the Country

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:38:52 -0400

Today the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the third round of funding in the popular TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) competitive grant program, which will provide $527 million for innovative, job-creating transportation projects. At least $141 million will go to projects in rural areas. Eligible projects must promote economic competitiveness, improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve safety, quality-of-life and working environments in communities. Unlike last year, no planning grants will be awarded this year and all the funding will be for project implementation. Eligible applicants, which include local governments, transit agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations, may submit up to three applications for consideration as the lead applicant. Additionally, any applicant applying for a TIGER TIFIA Payment must also submit a TIFIA letter of interest along with their application.

There is a two-step process to apply. A pre-application is due by October 3, 2011 at 5 PM EDT, with the pre-application system opening on or before August 23, 2011. The final applications are then due on or before October 31, 2011.

There is also a two-week period for comments on the selection criteria. Applicants can submit comments to USDOT up until July 18, 2011 at 5 PM EDT.

USDOT will be holding a half-day seminar and webcast on the TIGER application process on Monday, July 18 from 1 to 4 PM EDT.

In the first two rounds of TIGER grants, DOT received more than 2,500 applications and requests far outstripped available funds (see table). Funded projects have included several streetcar projects, including ones in Atlanta and Salt Lake City, intermodal transit stations and significant pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure projects.

Read the full Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) and Application Resources at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/

View Secretary LaHood’s press release announcing the availability of funds: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2011/dot7611.html

View a map of the last two rounds of TIGER grants here.

Norm Garrick - Automobility Decreases the Efficiency of Cities

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:06:41 -0400

Norman Garrick discusses what happens when you start to change your infrastructure from being pedestrian supported to auto supported. Case in point, the City of Hartford, which had at one point 15,000 parking spaces when it was a more walkable place. Today, it has 45,000 parking spaces and less jobs that it did then. To see what that means in terms of city destruction, you only have to wait till the end of the discussion to see the destruction that has on a city's soul. In plain terms, making way for automobility decreases the efficiency of cities.

Investing in Transit: Investing in America

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:25:53 -0400

On Monday, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $1.58 billion in funding for 27 major transit projects. The funding is from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program, which provides capital funding for new or expanded transit construction projects including light rail, streetcars, subways and bus rapid transit projects. Projects receiving funding range from new systems in smaller regions, like a bus rapid transit line in Roaring Fork Valley, CO, to major investments in established transit regions such as New York and Salt Lake City. A complete list of funded projects can be found here.

Reconnecting America commends the Obama Administration and Congress for these investments, which will help improve access to jobs and opportunity for residents in regions across the country. Transit investments like these create jobs – more jobs in fact than road building projects – and are thus critical for regions aiming to bolster their economies. By serving as a backbone around which regional growth can occur, transit investments like these can also be transformative for regions trying to tame sprawl and congestion. Many of the funded transit projects, like the West Corridor Light Rail project in Denver and the Central Corridor Light Rail in St. Paul-Minneapolis, will also provide critical transportation links for middle and lower-income families, for whom affordable connections to jobs and services can mean the most.

Despite the myriad benefits that transit brings to communities and the vast demand for transit funding nationwide, the federal New Starts program is at risk to be significantly cut in the federal fiscal budget for 2012. The House has proposed steep cuts to the program that would mean that the government would not be able to meet their ongoing funding commitments to many of these transit projects, let alone invest in other worthy projects across the nation. In a national review conducted last year, Reconnecting America identified 643 fixed-guideway transit projects that are being considered or planned in 106 regions across the country. The total known price tag for these projects is an estimated $233 billion. The total cost could in fact be 50 to 60 percent higher since only 64 percent of the transit projects catalogued have cost estimates. At the current rate of federal funding for projects like these, it will take 73 years to fund all the nation’s planned transit lines – and that is without considering the cuts that Congress is currently contemplating. With regions around the nation searching for ways to combat sprawl and stabilize their economies, this begs the question: can America really afford to wait this long for transit?

Charlie Hales - Portland's Unsung Heros

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:39:53 -0400

People are tired of hearing about Portland. But I asked Charlie Hales what he liked best about the region and he mentioned all of the unsung heros that work behind the scenes to make it an amazing place. Of course Portland has its problems and its blemishes just like anyone else, but you have to give their civic infrastructure credit, they do a great job up there.

Pollution Benefits of Urban Rail

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:33:23 -0400

Researchers at the University of California campus at Merced have found that introduction of an urban rail transit system can reduce the level of carbon monoxide pollution and nitrogen oxides in the air.

The 2011 study,"Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality," examined hourly pollution readings in Taipei, Taiway, following the opening of a completely new rail transit system. The public health impacts of the reduction of carbon monoxide of between 5 percent and 15 percent and a reduction in the nitrogen oxides in the air would be an important beneficial aspect of mass transit infrastructure that is often not taken into account by policy makers, according to the study.

Researchers also found that the rail transit system had little detectable impact on ground-level ozone, which is indirectly related to automobile emissions, but whose formation is not completely understood by scientists. The UC Merced scientists also found little evidence suggesting that automobile travelers adjusted their time or route of because of the availability of rail transit.

This report has been added to the Best Practices research articles.

Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality

Tom Low - Laying Lightly on the Land

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:16:34 -0400

Tom Low of DPZ in Charlotte discusses the initial places where New Urbanists thought more sustainable infrastructure could be used. He also talks a bit about how to deal with engineers that will try to gold plate the infrastructure as well as the acceptance of more environmental principles.

Jeff Tumlin - Tech Buses, A Job Sprawl Solution?

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 03:04:17 -0400

Jeff Tumlin gives his thoughts on private corporate transportation, such as tech buses in Silicon Valley and Seattle. In his opinion, it's an interesting solution to the problem of job sprawl that we see happening all over the country. But the areas have to be dense and in some instances, you'll see real estate agents noting the proximity of a property to the tech bus stop locations. You'll want to check this video out.

High-Speed Rail and the Culture War

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:52:22 -0400

(Original Here)

Is the way you travel a cultural issue? A growing number of politicians would like for you to think it is.

This week the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee presented a plan to privatize the national rail system. The plan is light on substance, but does offer the chairman a platform from which to kill Amtrak-which he says is a "soviet-style train system."

High-speed rail is another example. Just two years ago, high-speed rail was widely supported by both parties. Now, high-speed rail has become a conservative punching bag.

Diane Harkey, a Republican state assemblywoman from Dana Point, recently called California's high-speed rail project "cultural genocide." She is not alone in the tone of her rhetoric. George Will, the national conservative columnist, claims high-speed rail supporters have a goal of "diminishing Americans' individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism."

Conservatism itself does not presage opposition to high-speed rail. Both Republican and Democratic governors applied for high-speed rail funding, and one of the winners was a tea party favorite.

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party is pressing forward with its own high-speed rail project, even as it pursues efforts to address their nation's budget deficit. The Conservative government assumes operating and capital costs of $70 billion over a 60-year period -- far more costly than California's project -- but calculates the project more than paying for itself. It's a calculation that has been made over and over again, around the world, in both conservative and liberal governments.

But in America our consensus on infrastructure is breaking down. During the earliest years of our nation, the battle over infrastructure helped jump-start partisan divisions. The Federalist Party -- created by Alexander Hamilton -- supported federal funding and support for "internal improvements," which today we know as infrastructure. The Democratic Republicans -- created by Thomas Jefferson -- vehemently disagreed. But a bipartisan consensus eventually developed. Republican President Lincoln made construction of the Transcontinental Railroad a national priority -- in the middle of fighting the Civil War. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower approved what may be the largest infrastructure project in human history -- the Interstate Highway System.

Unfortunately partisanship has returned and the rhetoric has become sensational.

For example, the Reason Foundation suggests that China's high-speed rail system is a testament to why America should not pursue our own system. The Foundation points to a system plagued by cost overruns, corruption and shoddy construction. They fail to mention that the communist dictatorship's lack of transparency may be the primary factor behind those failings. Instead, they sell it as a problem inherent to high-speed rail.

The Cato Institute presents a false claim that efforts to shift passengers from airlines to high-speed rail in Europe "have failed over the past dozen years, despite massive government subsidies." Contrary to Cato's assertions, the Public Interest Research Group reports that after the introduction of high-speed rail services, the number of airplane passengers went down 50 percent between Paris and London. There are other examples throughout Europe and Asia. If a comparable drop were to occur in California, more than 1 million fewer passengers would fly between San Francisco and Los Angeles and 400,000 fewer would fly between Los Angeles and Sacramento. And instead of arriving at Sacramento's airport, these former airline passengers would arrive at Sacramento's new downtown rail station, invigorating downtown businesses, restaurants, and retail areas.

The rail system would also have a beneficial impact on congestion along some highways. In Sweden, where high-speed rail was introduced as a commuting option, some corridors saw the percentage of commuters using cars fall from 90 percent to 65 percent.

Along Highway 99, high-speed rail could cut the commute time between Modesto and Sacramento by more than half. As one can imagine, cutting the commute time in half introduces fundamental change. The magnitude of that change is difficult to project, leading to varying ridership forecasts.

Dueling ridership forecasts in a political arena heated by cultural antagonism makes it difficult to assess costs and benefits. As a result, some say it's better to delay the project, or for Californians to drop high-speed rail altogether. Those with a need to generate readership, or wish to get noticed for a statewide run for office, purposefully craft the environment that creates that frustration.

Framing specious arguments against high-speed rail as a cultural issue drives a level of distrust that allows shoddy research and uninformed opinion to color perceptions. Californians should fight against being used to score political points when the state's economic future is on the line.

Leveraging Bus Rapid Transit to Build More Sustainable Communities

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:24:24 -0400

A report examining development opportunites along 64 miles of King County Metro Transit's future bus rapid transit corridors has been added to the Best Practices research articles.

"Developing the Next Frontier: Capitalizing on Bus Rapid Transit to Build Community" was written by The Bus Rapid Transit and Land Use Initiative, a partnership among ULI Seattle, King County Metro Transit, the city of Seattle, the city of Shoreline, and the ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project. The partnership analyzed and made recommendations about how RapidRide lines can be organizing catalysts to build more sustainable and economically thriving communities.

The report contains case studies of similar BRT service in Cleveland, Kansas City, and the Twin Cities and analyzes three station areas in Seattle and Shoreline. From the perspectives of multimodal corridors, neighborhood design, housing, jobs/workers, marketing, and stakeholders, the team developed specific recommendations for RapidRide and initiative partners, as well as recommendations for each station area.

This report provides recommendations that address the transit system, corridor development, marketing, and stakeholder involvement. In addition, it examines housing opportunities, neighborhood design, and corridor development in the vicinity of three planned stations. The three stations represent a range of development conditions typical of arterial corridors in the Puget Sound region.

Developing the Next Frontier: Capitalizing on Bus Rapid Transit to Build Community

Charlie Hales - Holding Together With Chewing Gum and Bailing Wire

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:26:07 -0400

Anyone else ready for the Transportation Bill to be finished? I know I am. But folks like Charlie Hales, currently with HDR Engineering but soon to be running for Mayor of Portland, seem to be happy with what we've gotten out of this administration so far. Over $400 million for streetcars via TIGER and Urban Circulator grants? Sure, we'll take it, even if it is a system somewhat held together with chewing gum and bailing wire as Charlie states in this interview from CNU 19 in Madison.

John Robert Smith - A City is Defined by the Services it Offers and the Region it Supports

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:19:41 -0400

John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, hails from Meridian Mississippi. As the former Mayor, he saw how even a small city of 40,000 can be the center of a much larger region, providing services for over 350,000 people. It might give us a little bit of a different perspective when it comes to smaller cities and urban areas.

Jeff Tumlin - Santa Monica, An Escape for Wealthy Hollywood Producers

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:42:07 -0400

Following up on his discussion of Santa Monica deciding to take their congestion issue head on, Jeff Tumlin talks about why Santa Monica has the best collection of walkable commercial districts on the West Coast, rivaling San Francisco and Oakland, and how parts of Santa Monica can increase access to them. Additionally, you'll get a little dirt on the mobility of Hollywood producers in the 30s and 40s.

HUD Gives Advance Notice Of Second Round Of Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:56:21 -0400

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the second round of the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program. HUD plans to invest an additional $67 million toward creating stronger, more sustainable communities that connect housing to jobs while fostering local innovation and building a clean energy economy.

Today's announcement was advance notice that the second round of Regional Planning grants will soon be made available through a Notice of Funding Availability. According to the HUD press release, the grants will be awarded competitively to multi-jurisdictional and multi-sector partnerships as well as regional consortia consisting of state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), educational institutions, non-profit organizations and philanthropic organizations. This year’s funding was approved by Congress in HUD’s 2011 budget, as part of $100 million devoted to the agency's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. To read the full text of HUD's advance funding announcement, visit HUD's Sustainability website.

The press release explained that this year’s Regional Planning Grant program will encourage grantees to support regional planning efforts that integrate housing, land-use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure developments in a manner that empowers regions to consider how all of these factors work together to bring economic competitiveness and revitalization to a community. The program will place a priority on partnerships, including the collaboration of arts and culture, philanthropy, and innovative ideas to the regional planning process.

HUD will establish two funding categories for the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program.

Category 1 Funds: Can be used to support the preparation of Regional Plans for sustainable development.
Category 2 Funds: Can be used to support efforts to modify existing regional plans so that they are in accordance with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ six Livability Principles. Category 2 Funds also may be used to prepare more detailed execution plans for an adopted regional plan for sustainable development and limit predevelopment planning activities for catalytic projects.

Lee Einsweiler - Getting Urban Form Right Before Transit

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:16:44 -0400

Not everywhere is going to have fixed guideway transit, and in the past we've discussed why it's important to think about frequency as an important part of planning for TOD. In this discussion from CNU 19 in Madison, Lee Einsweiler of Code Studio in Austin talks about how the urban form needs to be right before the transit goes in.

HUD Offers Brownfields Development, Neighborhood Planning Grants

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:53:50 -0400

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urband Development has released a notice of funding availability (NOFA) for Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants. For BEDI, a total of $17.325 million will be available; grants of up to $3 million will be awarded.

BEDI is designed to help local governments redevelop brownfields, defined in this NOFA as abandoned, idled, or underutilized real property, including industrial and commercial facilities, where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the presence or potential presence of environmental contamination. A BEDI grant award will be conditioned upon, and must be used in conjunction with, a new (i.e., not previously approved) Section 108-guaranteed loan commitment. Applications are due by July 14, 2011.

HUD also recently released a NOFA for Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants. A total of $3,600,000 will be available; grants of up to $300,000 will be awarded. Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants will support the development of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans which will transform these communities into viable, mixed-income neighborhoods by linking housing improvements with appropriate services, schools, public assets, transportation, and access to jobs.

The program is focused on directing resources to address three core goals: housing, people and neighborhoods. To achieve these core goals, communities must develop and implement a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy, or Transformation Plan. The Transformation Plan will become the guiding document for the revitalization of the public and/or assisted housing units while simultaneously directing the transformation of the surrounding neighborhood and positive outcomes for families. Applications are due by August 8, 2011.

Economic Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Cities

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:02:00 -0400

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has released a report prepared by the Economic Development Research Group and sponsored by Siemens that details "The Economic Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Cities and their Metropolitan Areas."

Using Los Angeles, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; Orlando, Fla.; and Albany, N.Y., as representative metropolitan areas impacted by planned high-speed rail, the report found that the introduction of high-speed rail services would significantly increase jobs, wages, business sales and value-added Gross Regional Product.

Among the findings:

High-speed rail in Los Angeles could generate as much as $7.6 billion a year in new business sales, producing up to 55,000 new jobs and $3 billion in new wages.
Chicago could see as much as $6.1 billion a year in new business sales, producing up to 42,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in new wages.
As much as $2.9 billion a year in new business sales would arrive with high-speed rail in Orlando, producing up to 27,500 jobs and $1.2 billion in new wages.
High-speed rail to Albany would bring as much as $2.5 billion a year in new business sales, producing up to 21,000 jobs and $1.1 billion in new wages.

For more information, visit the U.S. Conference of Mayor's High-Speed Rail webpage.

Mike Lydon - Different Types of Bike Riders

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:31:32 -0400

The streets have been so dangerous for so long that until recently only a certain type of cyclist was brave enough to ride them. In order to get more people to use bikes as a main transportation mode, we need to design streets and cycleways with the other riders in mind. In this interview from CNU 19 in Madison, Mike Lydon of the Street Plans Collaborative discusses the who makes up the different types of riders that ride the streets.

Norman Garrick - Street Networks Affect Safety

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:12:42 -0400

Norman Garrick, CNU Board Member and professor at the University of Connecticut, has been looking at street networks for a number of years now. When living in Davis California, he noticed it was a bit safer even though there were many more pedestrians and cyclists. After more research, it became apparent that denser more connected street networks were safer. In this discussion we had at CNU 19, he discusses how street networks affect safety.

Twin Cities Dilemma Preserving Vision For Mixed-Income TOD

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:11:51 -0400

Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit-Oriented Development have been working in the Twin Cities for several years. Recently, CTOD partner Nadine Fogarty of Strategic Economics participated in a Central Corridor Funders Collaborative program entitled "Preserving our vision through an uncertain market."

Representatives of Twin Cities' government and non-profit groups along with a number of capital sources and collaborations looked at the issues that arise around preserving affordable housing and encourage new mixed-use, multi-income development as a new light rail line drives development changes in a corridor.

The Funders Collaborative website has a summary from the session, which provides national and local context, highlights existing resources for TOD acquisition plus one current approach to land acquistion, and outlines next steps to help further the local conversation about the benefit and potential of a strategic acquisition fund.

Yonah Freemark - We Shouldn't Be Selling Off Valuable Assets

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:10:18 -0400

Given all the talk about Privitization that seems to have hit a fever pitch lately, bringing about suppporters and detractors, we thought it would be apt to bring this discussion we had with Yonah Freemark (Transport Politic) to the front of the line. We ask him what he thought about Mica's plan and he had some pretty strong sentiments about the value of the asset that is the Northeast Corridor.

Jeff Tumlin - Santa Monica's Congestion Choice

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:01:46 -0400

Jeff Tumlin is a Principle at Nelson Nygaard in San Francisco focusing on sustainable transportation and urban development. In a recent project, they focused on getting Santa Monica to embrace thier congestion issues rather than insulate themselves from the problem by focusing on a no growth strategy. In the discussion below, Jeff talks about how they addressed the issue and got the city to think about thier future.

Fixing the Mobility Crisis Threatening the Baby Boom Generation

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:53:19 -0400

Transportation for America today released "Aging in Place, Stuck without Options: Fixing the Mobility Crisis Threatening the Baby Boom Generation," a report that cautions federal lawmakers about the potential calamity older Americans will face as their dependence on automobiles becomes more and more problematic.

"The baby boom generation grew up and reared their own children in communities that, for the first time in human history, were built on the assumption that everyone would be able to drive an automobile," said Reconnecting America CEO John Robert Smith, co-chair of Transportation for America. "The report explores the question: What happens when people in this largest, oldest generation outlive their ability to drive for everything?"

In 2009, Reconnecting America and the National Housing Trust joined AARP in a study about the need to perserve affordable housing near transit. As "Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities" explained, Older adults living in auto-dependent places who have limited or restricted ability to drive can become increasingly socially and physically isolated, which can negatively affect both physical and emotional health. Physical activity is one of the best mechanisms for preventing some of the most serious ailments related to aging, including depression, falls, and a variety of inflammatory conditions.

According to the new Transportation for America report, nearly 4 million additional people over age 65 will be living in auto-dependant areas by 2015 compared with numbers from 2000.

"The sheer scale of the transportation challenges presented by the aging of our largest demographic cohort requires a national response, particularly given fiscal constraints facing local communities," Transportation for America reports. "Federal leadership and investment in a variety of transportation projects and programs will be essential to help communities provide for the mobility needs of an aging America."

Transportation for America's report recommends:

An increase in federal funding dedicated to a variety of forms of public transportation
Provide funding and incentives for innovative practices such as coordination among existing programs and services, public-private partnerships, and the wider deployment of “intelligent transportation” technology that can help make transport systems more efficient and customer-friendly.
Encourage state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and transit operators to involve seniors and the community stakeholders in developing plans for meeting the mobility needs of older adults.
Ensure that state departments of transportation retain their current authority under federal law to “flex” a portion of their highway funds for transit projects and programs.
Include a “complete streets” policy to ensure that streets and intersections around transit stops are safe and inviting for seniors.

As the Transportation for America report points out, "A better balance of transportation options will serve all Americans – improving accessibility for everyone."

Transportation for America has formed a broad coalition of housing, business, environmental, public health, transportation, equitable development, and other organizations who seek to align our national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues such as economic opportunity, climate change, energy security, health, housing and community development.

Tom Low - Integrating Ecology and Placemaking

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:37:19 -0400

CNU 19 was full of amazing people including developers, transportation leaders, and folks who focus on greener development. Tom Low has been in this game for a while, focusing on how development can integrate more intelligently with the land below. The main point of this is infrastructure and Tom's book and philosophy are called Light Imprint.

Recent Blog: Half-Mile Circles Articles

Transit Oriented Development that's Healthy, Green & Just

Light Rail Without Wires

Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations

Key Issues

General Guidelines

FTA's New Starts Program Will Still Evaluate Alternatives

10 Strategies for Attracting Investment Near Transit

Distance, Dispersion and Poverty Make Difficult Choices for Public Transit

Endnotes

CNU20: The New World

CNU 20 Hot Topics:

Doing Well By Doing Good - Since 1982

Designing Place Collaboratively - Since 1993

Pedestrian And Walkability Research

TransitRenewal 201202017

Bus Rapid Transit and Development: Policies and Practices that Affect Development Around Transit

Walking, Bicycling, and Urban Landscapes: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area

CNU 20: Rediscover, Rethink & Redefine

FHWA, FTA Webinar On Scenario Planning

SCENARIO PLANNING WEBINAR SERIES

CONTACT INFORMATION

Treasury Department Releases Economic Analysis Of Infrastructure Investment

TOD As A Transportation Strategy: 2001 Analysis Questions Value

Research on Factors Relating to Density and Climate Change

Gentrification Trends in New Transit Oriented Communities: Evidence from Fourteen Cities that Expanded and Built Rail Transit Systems

Density Matters

Discussion Paper On The Evaluation Of Economic Development

Updated and Expanded H+T Index

The effects of street connectivity on walkability and access to transit

Lessons for Increasing Choice Ridership While Maintaining Transit Dependent Ridership

Some Facts To Counter The Myths About Higher Density

FTA To Hold Applicant Webinars For State Of Good Repair, Bus Livability And Clean Fuels Grant Opportunities

District of Columbia Streetcar Land Use Study, Phase One

A Framework For Transit Oriented Development In Florida

Joint Development Webinar Resource Materials Added To Resource Center

Economic Value of Walkability

Adding To The Resource Center's Best Practices Database

EPA Grants Award Process Webinar

Benchmarking America's Efforts To Promote Bicycling And Walking

Upgrading Your Search Experience

Getting on the Right Track: Real-world Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation

Workshop Highlights:

Highlighted Speakers:

Workshop Objectives:

Who should attend:

Sign up here.

Transit Mode Shares for Sports Venues

USDOT Announces TIGER III Award Recipients

TRB Session on Trams Will Bring the French Perspective

Feeding The News

Nathan Landau's Car-Free Los Angeles

Transportation Ballot Measures Mixed in 2011 Election

A Quick Look At Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Transportation Bill

TOD Marketplace 2011

Featured speakers:

Session presenters:

Lessons From Germany For American Transit, Sustainability

The state of our nation’s busiest bridges

Over 300 Transit Projects To Receive Funding from the Federal Transit Administration

Transit-Oriented And Joint Development

Follow All The Action At 2011 Rail~Volution, Washington, DC

Pretax Transit Benefit Parity

The Pitfalls Of Tax-Increment Financing And The Need For Reform

The Mile High Transit Opportunity Collaborative: How A Group of Nonprofits and Philanthropic Foundations Are Working to Ensure Equitable TOD in the Denver Region

Model Design Manual for Living Streets

Bus Advertisements from Around the World

International Lessons For High-Speed Rail

How an Ailing Rust-Belt Town Was Rebuilt From the Grassroots Up

Don't X Out Public Transportation Rallies

Measuring Transit's Impact On Housing Prices

Sept. 20 is Don’t X Out Public Transportation Day

Introducing GreenTRIP: Building Certification for Truly Transit-Oriented, Green Development

The Truth About MPOs

New Brookings Report Looks at Access to Public Transportation and Jobs Among Those Who Don't Own Cars

TIGER Webinars On Project Readiness And Public Private Partnerships

Healthy And Livable Community Resources

HUD Schedules Two Webinars To Help Grant Applicants

Program Descriptions

Do's and Don'ts of Transit Tax Elections