In the last decade, nearly 50,000 pedestrians were killed and 688,000 injured as a result of the decades-long neglect of pedestrian safety in the design and use of American streets, according to "Dangerous by Design," a report released today by Transportation for America.

While there are a lot of typologies created around rapid transit networks that only include rail in this country, that doesn't mean we can't plan land uses around frequent bus service.  In fact, in this video below CTOD Director Sam Zimbabwe discusses (go ahead and click!, it's less than a minute of your time) the need to focus not on the transit technology but the transit service frequency when thinking about how to change land uses. 

(Note: This is another in our series of expert blogs on TOD highlighting work and research that experts and advocates are doing in the field. Alyssa Sherman researched residential parking policy as a student in San Jose State University’s Master of Urban Planning Program, and completed her Master’s Thesis on this topic in May of 2010.)

Continuing with the second video about Typologies, Sam Zimbabwe discusses what cities and regions need to think about before creating a typology.  What are the goals?  Is it affordable housing? Is it access?  Increased development?  Check out what Sam has to say, and stay tuned for more! 

People have been grouping facts and figures since the dawn of time into specific types but when Transit Oriented Development (TOD) was first starting many folks thought that it was Manhattan or bust.  Of course, that isn't the case but along the way the Center for TOD has developed a different way of thinking about how places along a transit corridor and in a transit region interact with each other and support regional growth and equity.  In this film series, Sam Zimbabwe, Director of the Center for TOD discusses why typologies are an important part of the planning process.  This is an introduction.  For more information on TOD typologies by the Center for TOD and other planning firms, visit our Typologies featured topic page. Part 1: Why TOD Typologies Part 2: What Do We Need to Think About? Part 3: Can TOD…

Last month Jamaicans witnessed the return of passenger train service as the Jamaica Railway Corporation carried out a test run from May Pen to Linstead, St. Catherine.  Renewed passenger rail service in the country is exciting news and signifies a progressive step forward for improving transportation access and providing more mobility choices for Jamaicans.  

(Note: This is another in our series of expert blogs on TOD highlighting work and research that experts and advocates are doing in the field. Today we have Jennifer Gennari, Communications Director at Greenbelt Alliance)

About two months ago the Center for TOD released a report called Rails to Real Estate.  The basic gist of the report was that development along three new light rail lines was influenced by a number of different factors, some of which include income, employment proximity and walkability.  But to me one factor stood out specifically.  No matter where the vacant land was available, development was happening proximate to employment destinations along the corridor.  As you can see below, along each of the lines that were studied, development followed employment.