Transit Oriented Development Institute
Washington, DC

                     

Los Angeles is in the news again for its walkability! Check out the story about big changes that have been taking place in LA and all across America.

The City of Burbank received an $800K TOD station area planning grant from the California High Speed Rail Authority for planning around its new high speed rail station.

Our Transit Oriented Development & Urban Real Estate Conference takes place in the center of the action - Los Angeles May 3-5, don't miss it!


Price Goes Up Friday!


Learn TOD best practices, new financing options, principles of placemaking, and much more. See TOD projects up close during the TOD Tours.  More  
TOD Conference Los Angeles
Transit Oriented Development Conference

Leading developers, cutting edge designers, planners, elected officials, building users, and investors are coming together to network and share the excitement and best practices of Transit Oriented Development. Get involved in the hot real estate & community development trend sweeping the U.S.
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Watch new videos from our last TOD Conference in DC...
Tom Fairchild City Version 3

Tom Fairchild outlines the redevelopment of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor over 3 decades and the many things that were put into place to guide it.
Paul DeMaio_ Metrobike

Paul DeMaio of Metrobike outlines the huge impact bikeshare systems have on livability and the success of transit oriented developments.
Shyam Kannan WMATA

Shyam Kannan of WMATA outlines the many opportunities for TOD along the Washington DC metro system including detailed analysis of station areas.
Angela Fox

Angela Fox of Crystal City BID outlines the years of work transforming a place with a host of actions, activities, marketing and promotions. Crystal City has undergone major changes and improvements over the past decade.
Watch conference presentations

TOD was a niche market until recently - but now is rapidly becoming THE market according to real estate expert Chris Leinberger. There's a huge unmet demand for walkable urban places, which is why so many national and regional developers have switched to building what the market wants - TOD.
Attendees learned the secrets of creating lively, vibrant places


Burgeoning elder and millennial populations are realizing the benefits of transit oriented development, and both groups are leaving their cars behind in large numbers for walkable, vibrant communities to live, work and play.  
Transit Oriented Development - 21st century living


The allure of walkable, mixed-used, transit accessible places has grabbed the attention of regional developers - and big investment dollars have followed. 
Come to LA

LA - Next Great Walkable City
Los Angeles, city of bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic, could be an up-and-coming city for pedestrian-oriented development, according to a new report ranking walkable urban areas in the U.S.
LA - America_s next great walkable city

The report was done by LOCUS, a coalition of developers and investors who partner with Smart Growth America, and researchers at George Washington University. They surveyed walkability in the 30 top metropolitan areas in the country.

Car-friendly L.A., it turns out, ranked 18th on measures of walkable urbanism. Only 16% of its office and retail space is in an areas that's considered "walkable." Yet 45% of that pedestrian-friendly space exists in the suburbs-so despite its sprawl, L.A. has potential to become a hub for walkable development.  Read report | LA TOD Conference  

TOD at World Bank Conference
TOD Institute officials participated in last week's international conference at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.

Following the recent international climate agreement established at COP21 in Paris, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities co-hosted this important annual conference, "Transforming Transportation."  
Transforming Transportation at the World Bank

The new international agreements have sparked a new era of multilateralism and set a global agenda for fighting climate change. The timely theme of the conference was taking charge of this global agenda and turning it into local action that will meet international goals.

Attendees came from the public and private sectors, national governments, local jurisdictions, large and small corporations and from all around the world. There was a strong consensus among officials in favor of a disruptive approach towards curbing emissions if we are to keep the planet below 2° C warming, and the urban transport sector will be fundamental in this shift, as well as a major focus on Transit Oriented Development.
Transforming Transportation at the World Bank

While urban transport was a primary focus of the discussions, other topics included: how national governments could support implementation at the local level; building compact cities by integrating land use and transportation planning; the critical role of the private sector; road safety; clean mobility initiatives; connecting cities through corridors; and many more. Transit Oriented Development was strongly featured during the discussions, with a break out session specifically focused on making TOD inclusive and equitable.
 
There are projects underway around the world to transform outdated transportation systems into clean, energy efficient ones. But just as important is shifting land uses to build complete communities where they are incomplete, and manage growth and development while creating safe, livable, walkable communities for all people.  
21st century transportation for America

The trends are all moving in the right direction, but the consensus is clear: there will be no single "silver bullet" solution, but a host of solutions; and we need to be greatly accelerating multiple actions simultaneously to have meaningful and timely change. As we move forward into the next stage of climate solutions and building for the 21st century, we must be diligent in setting clear goals at all scales, establish coherence of our activities and funding, and we must demand disruptive - not incremental - change if we are to protect our future.  More info 
 
$800,000 TOD Planning Grant
The City of Burbank will receive $800,000 in government funds to begin planning a proposed transportation center near Bob Hope Airport that would serve high-speed trains, officials said Thursday. 
Burbank receives TOD planning grant

The money from the California High-Speed Rail Authority will be used to explore three station locations, opportunities for related economic development and the integration of high-speed trains into the local transportation system.
 
"The San Fernando Valley is long overdue for a major infrastructure investment of this magnitude," said Michelle Boehm, the Southern California regional director for the high-speed rail authority. "This agreement creates a unique regional planning opportunity that will help facilitate development of a world class transportation hub."

Under consideration are two potential sites on the northeast side of Bob Hope Airport between the runway and North Hollywood Way. A third option is on San Fernando Boulevard immediately west of Hollywood Way. High speed rail officials say the final location of the station will be decided during the environmental review process.
 
Burbank is the latest of several California cities that have received state and federal funds from the rail authority to study station locations that could serve the project. Other municipalities include Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield, Gilroy and Palmdale.  Read more | LA TOD Conference 

Projects of Regional Significance
Washington DC leads the nation with TOD!

Pike and Rose, strip center to urbanism!

Corporations are moving downtown, where the people want to be!

"Denver is building 119 miles of light rail and 70 new stations in a decade, creating huge development opportunities to make the region more livable and sustainable." -Reconnecting America
Denver building the future

The TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE is a national planning initiative to promote and accelerate the roll-out of walkable, mixed-use communities around rail stations. Working to increase the supply of new TODs and rail systems, the TOD Institute brings together business and political leaders to advance knowledge sharing and project deal-making.

 

The Transit Oriented Development Institute is a project of the US High Speed Rail Association, America's leading advocate for the development of a 21st century, national rail system. The Transit Oriented Development Institute promotes increased TOD and high design standards that deliver the best results to the users, the community, the developers, and the rail systems.  

 

The Transit Oriented Development Institute is run by a team of experts and leaders in rail, urban design, and real estate development.

  
In This Issue
Quick Links
TOD Principles
The following 10 principles are general guidelines for planning TOD districts and neighborhoods. Densities, details, and design vary project by project depending on many factors including location, context, availability of redevelopment property, surrounding development, etc. 

These 10 principles are a starting point for further work preparing specific local development plans working with the community. Examples of these plans are located on our 'Reports' page.

1. Put stations in locations with highest ridership potential and development opportunities
 2. Designate 1/2 mile radius around station as higher density, mixed-use, walkable development
 3. Create range of densities with highest at station, tapering down to existing neighborhoods
 4. Design station site for seamless pedestrian connections to surrounding development
 5. Create public plaza directly fronting one or more sides of the station building
 6. Create retail and cafe streets leading to station entrances along main pedestrian connections
 7. Reduce parking at station, site a block or two away, direct pedestrian flow along retail streets
 8. Enhance multi-modal connections, making transfers easy, direct, and comfortable
 9. Incorporate bikeshare, a comprehensive bikeway network, and large ride-in bike parking areas
10. Use station as catalyst for major redevelopment of area and great placemaking around station.  More
Transportation
Key to laying the foundation for Transit Oriented Development, high quality rail systems encourage the development of compact, mixed-use, walkable communities. High speed rail is the backbone of a rail-based transportation system. When combined with regional rail, light rail, metro systems, and streetcars and trams, a complete and integrated rail network is achieved enabling easy, fast mobility throughout the system.

The rail network becomes the organizing framework for a series of TOD developments into the creation of entire neighborhoods surrounding the rail stations. A series of TOD neighborhoods emerge laid out like pearls along a string. These add up entire networks of walkable communities creating a highly livable, 21st century lifestyle for all.

By making the station and its surrounding development well integrated and pedestrian and bicycle friendly, the 'last mile' connections to local destinations are made easy. Walking and biking to the station becomes a major mode of choice by many.

Ideally, the rail station is located in the middle of downtown or town centers where many destinations are within a short walk or bike ride away. Walkable communities support rail systems by providing high ridership throughout the day, week, and weekend.

Sophisticated new city bike share programs serve the last mile best by making fast door-to-door connections easy with the ability to ride and drop off the bike almost anywhere.  More

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