Concentrating population density around transit is smart planning. It provides access to places to work and play without ever setting foot in a car, reducing people’s daily carbon footprint.
But transit-oriented development (TOD) goes far beyond building condo towers next door or on top of a transit hub. It represents an opportunity to build a complete community, in which people to have core amenities within walking distance of home, safe passage throughout the community using active transportation methods, and an expansive network of options for navigating the rest of the city.
Successful TOD requires careful, purposeful design and planning at the earliest stages of development.
Planning for People
To be successful, planning for TODs requires people-centered design and thinking. Emphasis must be placed on understanding and accommodating human needs rather than vehicular needs.
TODs are, essentially, large, nodal towns that should ideally cater to the range of basic needs that a population of that magnitude requires for day-to-day activities. TODs need to include home, work, retail, leisure, and institutional uses catered to pedestrian scales to encourage walking and cycling as the primary means of transportation within the TOD itself. Frequent, rapid, high-order transit is also present to connect the TOD to other major nodes throughout the metropolitan area.
In the early planning stages for the development, a vision for land use and density needs to be established. This usually follows a process that starts by identifying principles for organizing density and setting out road options (if new roads are part of the plan).
Generally, population and employment density should be lined up with the multimodal transportation network, with the highest densities concentrated close to the station or along convenient pedestrian access routes to the station. There is a need to think about the pedestrian’s journey within the development, so it is comfortable and convenient. TOD should be supported by ground-floor commercial uses on major connections. Imagine someone using transit every day; they will want to stop for food or groceries along the way home without having to make a detour. The details of building configuration matter to promote walking. Front entrances of condos, businesses and transit stations should be street-oriented, allowing easy access on pedestrian-focused pathways.
