Transit Friendly Planning Literature

A host of resources on transit friendly planning and transit-oriented development, including reports, academic research, and white papers.

(Overlooked) Association Between Express Bus Station / Stop Proximity and Multifamily Rents with a Surprise About Transit Mode Synergism and Implications for Transit and Land Use Planning

Report link: (Overlooked) Association Between Express Bus Station / Stop Proximity and Multifamily Rents with a Surprise About Transit Mode Synergism and Implications for Transit and Land Use Planning

Researchers examine the economic relationship between express bus stops and land value.

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Black family of three holding paper house figure in hands

4th Round Affordable Housing and What It Means to Your Downtown

Earlier this year, the legislature adopted a series of bills targeted at increasing housing affordability. The main bill, A4/S50, intends to streamline the process for the 4th round of municipal affordable housing obligations...

Advancing Equitable Transit-Oriented Development through Community Partnerships and Public Sector Leadership

Report link: Advancing Equitable Transit-Oriented Development through Community Partnerships and Public Sector Leadership

This 2016 white paper, produced by MZ Strategies, LLC with funding from the Ford Foundation, showcases eTOD efforts in four regions — Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and Seattle...

America Needs Complete Streets

Report link: America Needs Compete Streets

The authors provide an overview of complete streets, of what a complete streets policy should address, and the effects of its implementation...

An Evaluation of Property Values in New Jersey Transit Villages

Report link: An Evaluation of Property Values in New Jersey Transit Villages

Researchers analyzed the effect of the NJ Transit Village Initiative on property values in six municipalities that were designated by the program...

Are We There Yet? Creating Complete Communities for 21st Century America

Report link: Are We There Yet?

Reconnecting America’s 2012 research study on complete communities across the United States provides a timely look into how cities can recover from the COVID-19 crisis in the coming months and years. The study focuses on city characteristics that allow their residents to live, work, move, and thrive. Indicators used in the study provide a baseline to show what was making cities successful before the pandemic hit, and where they can begin building complete communities...

Boonton Transit Oriented Development

The report, presentation, and poster result from the 2016 Boonton TOD Studio, which sought to assist the Morris County Town of Boonton (pop. 8500) advance its transit-friendly redevelopment goals...

Briefing Report Number 3: Case Studies for Transit Oriented Development

Report link: Briefing Report Number 3: Case Studies for Transit Oriented Development

This report offers a useful summary of some of the wide variety of land use and planning techniques that have been used to encourage TOD...

Brownfields Resources

Report links: Getting Started with Brownfields, State and Local Non-Cash Tools and Strategies, and Local Brownfield Financing Tools.

Charles Bartsch and Barbara Wells recently offered several articles outlining ways to reclaim underutilized and contaminated properties...

Building a Transit-Friendly Community

Report link: Building a Transit-Friendly Community

This guidebook documents key finding and lessons learned from NJ TRANSIT's pilot program Transit-Friendly Communities for New Jersey, a community planning assistance program...

Building Livable Communities with Transit: Planning, Developing, and Implementing Community-Sensitive Transit

Report link: Building Livable Communities with Transit

The FTA issued this manual to help local governments, transit agencies and planners address community concerns as they develop transit facilities...

Bursting the Bubble: Determining Transit-Oriented Development’s Walkable Limits

Report link: Bursting the Bubble: Determining Transit-Oriented Development’s Walkable Limits

Canepa challenges the “half-mile circle” that currently defines the limit of TOD by examining new research that cites variability in this assumption...

Climate Investment Opportunities in Cities: An IFC Analysis

Report link: Climate Investment Opportunities in Cities: An IFC Analysis

In late 2018, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) published the fourth report on climate investment opportunities in developing regions across the globe, which addresses the opportunities available in urban markets...

Communicating the Benefits of TOD

This report tells a story of three cities – Jersey City and Hoboken in New Jersey, and Evanston, Illinois – that have experienced a lot of development since the late 1980s, reversing decades of decline...

Communicating the Benefits of Transit-Oriented Development

Report link: Communicating the Benefits of TOD

This report examines two sub-regions that have capitalized on the benefits realized from transit-oriented “redevelopment” in New Jersey and Illinois...

Communities are Embracing Development near Transit

Report link: Communities are Embracing Development near Transit

A 2017 AARP report provides a snapshot of the policy and planning supports employed by state, regional, and local actors to support transit oriented development (TOD) from 2015 to 2016 and suggests that the number and variety of TOD programs and policies at all levels of government have grown significantly...

Complete Streets: Best Policy and Implementation Practices

Report link: Complete Streets: Best Policy and Implementation Practices

The APA recently released a Planning Advisory Service report on complete streets titled Complete Streets: Best Policy and Implementation Practices...

Creating Walkable Places

Report link: Creating Walkable Places

This new book explains how to create pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use developments including those with “transit-oriented cores.”...

Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities

Report link: Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities

This guide is an excellent resource for anyone interested in introducing charrettes, or design workshops, into the community planning process...

Eliminating Barriers to Transit-Oriented Development

This report looks at three conditions that could be barriers to transit-oriented development: impacts on schools; impacts to local auto traffic; and, impacts on local parking...

Emerging European-Style Planning in the US: Transit-Oriented Development

The authors argues that the New Jersey Transit Village Initiative is an example of a new role for state planning in the United States...

Empty Spaces: Real Parking Needs at Five TODs

Report link: Empty Spaces: Real Parking Needs at Five TODs

More evidence that TODs generate fewer vehicle trips and utilize less parking than ITE guidelines estimate...

Exploring Transportation, Employment, Housing & Location Issues for NJ Veterans with Disability

This report explores the intersection among transportation, housing, and employment to successful veteran reintegration...

Financing Transit-Oriented Development with Land Values

Report link: Financing Transit-Oriented Development with Land Values

Financing Transit-Oriented Development with Land Values, land value capture (LVC) techniques for developing countries, with application for the US...

Fiscal Impacts of Transit-Oriented Development Projects

Report link: Fiscal Impacts of Transit-Oriented Development Projects

ULI-Washington & ULI-Baltimore examine the fiscal impacts of TOD projects...

Four Communities Share Key Lessons Learned from Creative Placemaking on Vacant Properties

Report link: Creative Placemaking on Vacant Properties: Lessons Learned from Four Cities

Center for Community Progress, with Metris Arts Consulting, shows how creative placemaking can be used as a critical tool to support equitable revitalization...

From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development

Report link: From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development

The MassInc Gateway Cities Innovation Institute released a report detailing the importance of Transformative TOD (TTOD)—a framework that intentionally “leverages equitable environmental, fiscal, and growth benefits” of developing property near transit stations...

Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation

Report link: Getting to Smart Growth II

This manual for Smart Growth implementation offers 10 policy recommendations for each of 10 Smart Growth goals...

Getting to Work: Reconnecting Jobs with Transit

Report link: Getting to Work: Reconnecting Jobs with Transit

This report documents the commuting habits of New Jerseyans and the connection between the pattern of employment and transportation challenges...

Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change

Report link: Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change

The Urban Land Institute has issued this report to address growth and developmental strategies designed to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...

Guide to Facilitate Historic Preservation through Transit-Oriented Development

While transit-oriented development may be seen as acting in conflict with historic preservation, this 2016 Guidebook and Video explain how city officials and planners can use transfer of development rights and other techniques to simultaneously promote both transit-oriented development and historic preservation efforts...

Guide to Joint Development for Public Transportation Agencies

Report link: Guide to Joint Development for Public Transportation Agencies

TCRP's recently released report provides detailed guidelines and best practices on the real estate development process that occurs on transit agency property or through some other type of development transaction to which the transit agency is a party...

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for Planners: What Tools are Useful?

Report link: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for Planners: What Tools are Useful?

This article discusses the history, current practices, and role of Health Impact Assessments in planning...

Hidden in Plain Sight: Capturing the Demand for Housing Near Transit

Report link: Hidden in Plain Sight

This report studies the demand for housing near America’s rapid transit systems and finds that demand for such housing will likely double by 2025...

Housing Diversity and Affordability in New Jersey’s Transit Villages

The author evaluates the affordable housing situation of transit-oriented development within municipalities participating in the New Jersey Transit Village Initiative...

How Land Value Return and Recycling Spurs Smart Growth

Report link: Guidebook to Funding Transportation Through Land Value Return and Recycling

NCHRP Research Report 873, Guidebook to Funding Transportation Through Land Value Return and Recycling, provides a practical guide to the infrequently utilized practice of recapturing land value increase to fund transportation infrastructure...

How Residential and Commercial Property Values Rise in Transit Sheds

Resource Link: The Real Estate Mantra – Locate Near Public Transportation by the American Public Transportation Association

This study reveals that it is getting increasingly expensive to live near public transit. As more and more cities invest in mixed-use developments, house prices and rents within a half-mile of transit facilities are increasing at a faster rate than those in neighborhoods farther away...

Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment

Report link: Job Sprawl Revisited

A new analysis by the Brookings Institution sheds light on the decentralization of employment that took place in nearly all of the country’s 98 largest metropolitan areas between 1998 and 2006...

Land Development at Selected Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Stations

Researchers examine real estate development near the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line, focusing on new residential construction at five stations in Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken and Union City...

Land Development at Selected Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Stations

Report link: Land Development at Selected Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Stations

This study builds on a previous VTC study of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Line, and also examines development near other stations on the line...

Linking People to Opportunity: FTA’s Role in Creating Complete Communities

Video link: Linking People to Opportunity: FTA's Role in Creating Complete Communities

This video from 2017 discusses how transit-oriented development (TOD) can be used to increase access to opportunities via public transportation and how public transportation serves to create more complete communities...

LISC: Our Investments in Transit-Oriented Development

Report link: LISC: Our Investments in Transit-Oriented Development

Promoting the welfare of existing residents and newcomers alike is the goal when the Local Initiatives Support Corporation takes on a TOD project...

Location Affordability Portal

Report link: Location Affordability Portal

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Department of Transportation recently launched the Location Affordability Portal, a web-based tool that estimates the cost of housing and transportation based on location...

Manual on Bicycle and Pedestrian Connections to Transit

Report link: Manual on Bicycle and Pedestrian Connections to Transit

FTA Report No. 0111 outlines best practices to make transit stations as accessible and safe as possible for bicyclists and pedestrians...

Measuring the Effectiveness of TDM: A Review of the Arlington County Residential Building Study

Report link: Arlington County Residential Building Study: Aggregate Analysis Update, May 2018

Our look at a recent report by Mobility Lab on the effectiveness of transportation demand management strategies on residential transportation behaviors in Arlington County, VA...

Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide

Report link: Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide

The Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide helps communities retain and increase lower income TOD housing...

Move! That! Bus! Tactics for Transforming Transit in Two Years

Resource link: Move! That! Bus!

One important action to improve transit and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may be getting riders on the bus...

Moving an Age-Friendly DC: Transportation for All Ages

Report link: Moving an Age-Friendly DC: Transportation for All Ages

A look at transportation for seniors in our nation's capital and recommendations for meeting this growing demographic's needs...

Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Report link: Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Moving Cooler asserts that the US must encourage compact development, reduce driving and expand mass transit use in order to reduce GHG emissions...

Parking Management Best Practices

Report link: Parking Management Best Practices

The parking management strategies described in this book can help planners increase parking facility efficiency and reduce parking demand...

Parking Matters

Report link: Parking Matters

This monograph describes the challenges of financing structured parking in New Jersey urban areas...

Parking Spaces/Community Places: Finding the Balance Through Smart Growth Solutions

Report link: Parking Spaces/Community Places

This report provides a summary of the costs of parking, the dubious criteria parking requirements are based on and offers alternative strategies...

Parking: A Major Barrier to Equitably Oriented Transit

Report link: Parking: A Major Barrier to Equitably Oriented Transit

The Chicago-based Strong, Prosperous, and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC) recently investigated the relationship between parking policies and provision and efforts to implement equitable TOD...

Paved Over: Surface Parking Lots or Opportunities for Tax-Generating, Sustainable Development?

Report link: Paved Over

This study of the Chicago area examines the potential development benefits through more intensive use of surface parking near transit...

Planning for Transit-Friendly Land Use: A Handbook for New Jersey Communities

Report link: Planning for Transit Friendly Land Use

This handbook is designed to help planning officials, planning and zoning boards and communities create successful TOD environments...

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty

Report link: Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty

Post Carbon Cities provides a sobering view of the realities faced by local governments with fading energy supply and global climate change...

Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities

Report link: Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities

This report surveyed federally-subsidized affordable housing in 20 cities, including New York City and Philadelphia, and their proximity to transit...

Promoting Opportunity through Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD): Navigating Federal Transportation Policy

Report link: Promoting Opportunity through Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD): Navigating Federal Transportation Policy

This report provides stakeholders involved in achieving eTOD, such as public entities, developers and practitioners, guidance on understanding and benefiting from federal transportation policies and programs...

Promoting Transit-Oriented Developments by Addressing Barriers Related to Land Use, Zoning, and Value Capture

Report link: Value Capture: Capitalizing on the Value Created by Transportation Implementation Manual
Researchers from San Jose State University explore the land use, zoning, and value capture-related barriers that stymy the construction of TODs as well as strategies used or that could be used to surmount these hurdles...

Purple Line: Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Strategy

Report link: Purple Line: Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Strategy

The Purple Line Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Strategy delves into equity considerations surrounding the construction of the Purple Line in Maryland...

Recent Research Demonstrates Desire for TOD

Report links: Aging Americans, 2004 National Community Preference Survey, and Hidden in Plain Sight.

Three recent studies have demonstrated the desirability of transit-oriented development principles...

Reimagining Bloomfield Streets

This fall 2018 studio led by VTC's Stephanie DiPetrillo and Leigh Ann Von Hagen explored ways to improve access by all modes of travel to the Watsessing Avenue Station and provided recommendations to enhance existing assets in support of overall health, wellness, and equity in Bloomfield Township, New Jersey...

Resources Highlight Maryland’s TOD Potential

Report link: Planning Tools for Transit-Oriented Development

A new online resource released by the State of Maryland promotes TOD policies and opportunities at the state's more than 100 transit station...

Revitalizing Main Street: A Practitioner’s Guide to Comprehensive Commercial Revitalization

Report link: Revitalizing Main Street

A resource from the National Trust for Historic Preservation offers readers a detailed look at the many aspects of downtown growth and development...

Rutgers Regional Report: The ‘Burbs’ Bounce Back: ‘Trendlet’ or ‘Dead Cat Bounce’?

Report link: Rutgers Regional Report: The ‘Burbs’ Bounce Back: ‘Trendlet’ or ‘Dead Cat Bounce’?

A 2018 Rutgers Regional Report examines whether a recent increase in suburban population in the New York metropolitan region is an irregularity or a notable shift from a larger, post-2010 reurbanization trend...

School-Age Children in Rental Units in New Jersey: Results from a Survey of Developers and Property Managers

Report link: School-Age Children in Rental Units in New Jersey: Results from a Survey of Developers and Property Managers

A study completed in July 2018 by the Rutgers Center for Real Estate estimates the number of school-age children associated with recent constructed New Jersey market-rate and affordable rental units...

Smart Growth and Economic Success: The Business Case

Report link: Smart Growth and Economic Success: The Business Case

This new publication explores the benefits for businesses of choosing a regional location with smart growth features...

Strengths and Weakness of Bus in Relation to Transit Oriented Development

Report link: Strengths and Weakness of Bus in Relation to Transit Oriented Development

Currie offers an assessment of the strengths and weakness of bus transit-oriented development (BTOD) and discusses the issues confronting BTOD...

Targeting Transit: Assessing Development Opportunities around New Jersey’s Transit Stations

Report link: Targeting Transit

In Targeting Transit, New Jersey Future’s director of research, Tim Evans, presents a tool that can be used to prioritize TOD investments...

TCRP Report 128: Effects of TOD on Housing, Parking, and Travel

Report link: Effects of TOD on Housing, Parking, and Travel

This new TCRP report attempts to clarify the relationship between livable communities and transit...

Ten Principles for Successful Development Around Transit

Report link: Ten Principles for Successful Development Around Transit

The Urban Land Institute released a report in 2003 to help municipal officials and planners successfully implement development around transit centers...

The High Cost of Free Parking

Report link: The High Cost of Free Parking

In this innovative book, UCLA planning professor Donald Shoup challenges traditional parking methodologies and strategies...

The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development

Report link: The New Transit Town

In this book, the demographic trends that favor an increasing demand for TOD are outlined,as well as the issues of design, public policy and finance...

The Opportunity of Low Emission Zones

Report link: The Opportunity of Low Emission Zones: A Taming Traffic Deep Dive Report

As urban policymakers strive to create healthier cities, they may tackle the challenge of pollution through the strategic use of Low Emission Zones (LEZs)...

The Returning City: Historic Preservation and Transit in the Age of Civic Renewal

Report link: The Returning City

This report demonstrates how transit and historic preservation act in complementary ways to invigorate urban and suburban neighborhoods...

TOD 101: Why Transit-Oriented Development And Why Now?

Report link: TOD 101: Why Transit-Oriented Development And Why Now

This book highlights the benefits of TOD and how it can help maintain the economic vitality of communities...

TOD 202: Station Area Planning: How to Make Great Transit-Oriented Places

Report link: TOD 202: Station Area Planning

This handbook is designed to promote best practices in transit-oriented development by simplifying the complex decisions involved in planning for TOD...

TOD 205: Families and Transit-Oriented Development: Creating Complete Communities for All

Report link: TOD 205: Families and Transit-Oriented Development: Creating Complete Communities for All

Families and Transit-Oriented Development presents strategies for creating TOD that supports family-friendly communities and high-quality education...

TOD and Park-and-Ride: Which is Appropriate Where?

Report link: TOD and Park-and-Ride: Which is Appropriate Where?

Researchers from San Jose State University explore the short-term and long-term impacts of Park-and-Rides and TOD upon transit ridership...

TOD Opportunities in Somerset County, New Jersey

Awarded the APA-NJ Outstanding Planning Implementation Award, this report presents an analysis of opportunities for transit-oriented development in Somerset County...

Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities

Report link: Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities

With a goal of supporting sustainable and affordable lifestyles through accessible mobility, NJ TRANSIT’s Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities seeks to empower diverse stakeholders in making land use decisions that support and encourage transit use...

Transit Village Symposium: “Progress and Future” Symposium Proceedings

Report link: Transit Village Symposium

These proceedings cover the Second Transit Village Initiative Symposium held by the Voorhees Transportation Center and held at Rutgers University...

Transit-Oriented Development for Older Adults: A Survey of Current Practices Among Transit Agencies and Local Governments in the US

Report link: Transit-Oriented Development for Older Adults: A Survey of Current Practices Among Transit Agencies and Local Governments in the US
Researchers from Florida State University examine how transit agencies and governmental entities address the needs of older adults through their TOD efforts...

Transit-Oriented Development in the United States: Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects

Report link: Transit-Oriented Development in the United States

This analysis of TOD practice examines its impacts, benefits, and barriers, as well as useful policies and implementation and financing tools...

Transit-Oriented Development: What Does the Research Tell Us?

A presentation made to a joint meeting of the Somerville, New Jersey council, planning board and zoning board of adjustment on the current research on TOD impacts and trends...

Transit-Oriented Development: Developing a Strategy to Measure Success

Report link: Transit-Oriented Development: Developing a Strategy to Measure Success

This digest offers a strategy to systematically evaluate the potential success of transit-oriented development...

Transit-Oriented Displacement or Community Dividends? Understanding the Effects of Smarter Growth on Communities

Resource link: Transit-Oriented Displacement or Community Dividends?

Tackling an under-researched connection between transit-oriented development (TOD) and displacement, Karen Chapple and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris establish the case for greater consideration of how TOD projects affect vulnerable residents within their geographic pull...

Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities

Report link: Transportation and Health: Policy Interventions for Safer, Healthier People and Communities

Communities looking to promote health and safety through land use and transportation policies can turn to this report...

Untapped Potential: Opportunities for Affordable Homes and Neighborhoods Near Transit

Report link: Untapped Potential: Opportunities for Affordable Homes and Neighborhoods Near Transit

RPA's recent study provides a broad look at the current state and future of TOD in the New York metro region...

US EPA: Smart Location Mapping

Report link: US EPA: Smart Location Mapping

The EPA's Smart Location Mapping is a valuable resource for assessing the linkage between land use/urban form and its effects on transportation...

Value Capture Implementation Manual: Capitalizing on the Value Created by Transportation

Report link: Value Capture: Capitalizing on the Value Created by Transportation Implementation Manual

This August 2019 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) manual presents value capture techniques, features, and tools that can be employed by public agencies and state departments of transportation to facilitate decision-making...