This brief draws on existing research in the fields of urban planning, transportation planning, economics, and sociology to highlight the benefits of optimizing land uses at transit stations, with a particular focus on office and retail space.
Optimizing Land Uses Near Transit Stations
Executive Summary
This brief draws on existing research in the fields of urban planning, transportation planning, economics, and sociology to highlight the benefits of optimizing land uses at transit stations, with a particular focus on office and retail space. Commercial development is fundamental to creating vibrancy near transit stations, and employment density often serves as a strong proxy for measuring the success of a TOD project. Given the limited supply of land suitable for TOD projects in the Bay Area, and limited submarkets where office developments make sense (i.e., places where rents justify the cost of development, where transit proximity allows for an ability to pull workers from different submarkets in the Bay Area, and where the potential for employment agglomeration exists), commercial space should be prioritized in locations where it is most feasible and where it can provide maximum economic, environmental, and equity benefits.
Key findings include:
• Employment density on transit increases transit ridership more than residential density.
• Within a quarter mile radius from a fixed line station, 10.5% of workers will commute via transit versus 9.5% of residents. o For every 1,000 square feet of new commercial floorspace near a rail station, an additional six transit trips are generated per day, yielding an additional $34 million in transit revenue.
• The higher the job density, the more positive influence on ridership: for every additional 100 employees per acre around a transit station, rail ridership rose by 2.2%.
• People are only willing to walk 500 to 1,000 feet from transit to work, but up to ¼ to ½ mile from transit to home. This suggests that while jobs and housing should be as close to transit as possible, office and retail should be prioritized closest to transit.
• Clustering job growth around transit creates agglomerating effects that boost a region’s competitiveness and increase economic productivity more than dispersed job growth.
• Supporting major employment nodes along transit corridors creates strong bi-directional ridership, reducing strain on transit systems and increasing system efficiency.
• Those earning less than $30,000 are 10 times more likely to not own a car, and often have no other choice than to be “transit dependent.” Concentrating jobs closer to transit stations can help broaden employment opportunities for the carless, particularly low-income workers, translating to more equitable outcomes for all.
• Mixed-use developments oriented around public transit reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and lower annual household rates of driving.