New TCRP Research Shows ITE Overestimates Trips in TOD by 50%
by G.B. Arrington
The Results Are In: TODs Really do Produce Fewer Car Trips
You drank the Kool-Aid; you know that if you link transit and land use to create transit-oriented development (TOD) the result is fewer car trips and a host of benefits. From Portland to Miami, Boston to Los Angeles, a record number of TODs are being built in the US. Yet most bankers, developers and regulators are drinking from a different cup. As a result the majority of new development adjacent to transit stops in America has been built in a manner oblivious to the fact that a rail stop is nearby. Therefore many of the hoped for benefits (less time stuck in traffic and lower housing costs to name two) are not being realized from a public investment of nearly $75 billion dollars in rail transit over the past 11 years.
New Research
New research recently completed for the Transit Cooperative Research Program provides the ammunition to build TODs that take the benefits of transit into account. The study completed by PB PlaceMaking, Dr Robert Cervero, The Urban Land Institute and the Center for Transit Oriented Development looked at how automobile use of residential TODs compared to conventional development.
Our research looks at the actual transportation performance of 17 built TOD projects. This was done by counting the passage of motorized vehicles using pneumatic tubes stretched across the driveways of TOD housing projects of varying sizes in four urbanized areas of the country: Philadelphia/N.E. New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; metropolitan Washington D.C.; and the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Suburban Bias
One motivation for this research was to provide original and reliable data to help seed new professional guidance for building TODs. In part that means an update of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation and parking generation rates, from which local traffic and parking impacts are typically derived and impact fees are set.
Some analysts have identified a serious "suburban bias" in the current ITE rates. Most of the empirical data used to set generation rates are drawn from suburban areas with free and plentiful parking and low-density single land uses. Moreover, since ITE's auto trip reduction factors, to reflect internal trip capture, are based on only a few mixed-use projects in Florida; there has been little or no observation of actual TODs. The end result is that auto trip generation is likely to be overstated for TODs. This can mean that TOD developers end up paying higher impact fees, proffers and exactions than they should since such charges are usually tied to ITE trip rates.
TODs Produce 50% Fewer Trips
In fact, the results of this research clearly show TOD-housing produces fewer automobile trips in the four urbanized areas. The research confirms the ITE trip generation and parking generation rates over estimate automobile trips for TOD housing.
The ITE manual presents “weighted averages” of trip generation that this study showed to be flawed for TODs. The weighted average vehicle trip rates for this study were computed for all 17 projects combined for weekday, AM peak, and PM peak. Over a typical weekday period, the 17 surveyed TOD-housing projects averaged 44% fewer vehicle trips than that estimated by the ITE manual (3.754 versus 6.715 daily trips per unit). The weighted average differentials were even larger during peak periods – 49% lower rates during the A.M. peak and 48% lower rates during the P.M. peak.
Peak hour impact fees and traffic impact studies based on the ITE manual could be overstating the congestion-inducing effects of TOD-housing by as much as 50%. One result may also be unnecessary impact mitigation and roadway improvements. This means that policy makers and planners can “afford” to give TODs as much as 50% lower fees than traditional developments with no adverse effects on other areas of government budgets caused by traffic impacts.
New Standards Needed to Reflect Reality
Existing suburban standards assume virtually everyone drives. It should now be indisputable: TODs perform differently than conventional development. New parking and trip generation rates are necessary to reflect reality. Implementing the findings of this research will allow communities across America to capture the benefits of TOD and reap additional benefits from the substantial investment in transit.
New standards could result in wholesale changes in how we address the cost, impact and feasibility of residential development near transit. The implications of new standards are varied:
Local officials and neighborhoods may be more apt to support increases in residential densities near transit if they are shown proof significantly fewer trips result from TODs than in conventional development.
Developers would likely pay lower fees and extractions by as much as 50% to reflect the actual performance of residential TODs. Those savings can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower housing costs. For instance, a 700-unit condominium development proposed for a city in California could see its traffic impact fee reduced by half—from $4,500 per unit to $2,250 per unit—if it were based on the likely traffic generation of a TOD rather than the ITE rates. In this case, the developer would save $1.6 million—presumably making the units more affordable.
Parking availability and cost has a major impact on transit use. Transit agencies should plan for increased ridership from lower parking ratios for residential TODs.
Housing affordability is a crisis facing the nation. More affordable TOD housing should be available to the public because of lower development costs and the need for less expensive parking.
More compact environmentally sustainable development can result from less land being consumed for parking. U.S. EPA estimates each on-site parking space in infill locations can reduce the number of new housing units or other uses by 25 percent or more.
Implementing these findings should help result in better planned communities, less time stuck in traffic and more affordable housing. Let’s get going.
New Report Shows $5.3 Billion Development Investment Near Hudson Bergen Light Rail Line
Report by the Voorhees Transportation Center for New Jersey Transit
Transit-oriented development is an integral part of New Jersey. Suburban residents have depended on commuter rail transportation to the urban centers of Newark and New York City for over a century. Inner ring suburbs grew around their train stations and many, such as Summit, South Orange, Ridgewood, and Westfield, remain desirable communities because of their walkability, quality of streetscape, variety of shopping in mixed-use commercial centers, attractive housing stock and rail access to jobs in New York City. And, while these towns have survived largely intact, most of New Jersey has had to grapple with the dramatic economic and development shifts of the post-WW II world.
This study describes how the new HBLR train service emerged as a response to growing redevelopment activity in the most urban section of New Jersey, Hudson County; and, in turn, how that new service has spurred more development — development that is focused on transit usage and walkability. To better understand the nexus of public, political and economic forces that unified to produce the Hudson Bergen Light Rail line, some historical perspective is helpful.
Twin Cities TOD Toolkit
The Twin Cities region has a tremendous opportunity to use existing and planned transit to create strong, livable neighborhoods with easily accessible connections to regional employment, educational, and recreational activities. Understanding the various elements, players and opportunities surrounding successful transit-oriented development (TOD) can be a challenge. The Twin Cities TOD Toolkit takes lessons learned from the Hiawatha Corridor and other transit projects around the country to provide technical assistance and information for people interested in the ways in which transit-oriented development can help the Twin Cities region shape growth.
What is It?
The TOD Toolkit is a collection of materials that can be used together to provide an overview of the central issues, definitions, and policy recommendations that encompass successful TOD from the regional to the neighborhood level. The TOD Toolkit includes such general resources as a map of proposed key transit corridors including light rail, commuter rail and express bus service; to a links to regional and national resources on TOD and detailed presentations focused on efforts to date in the Twin Cities to develop TOD projects.
How to Use It?
The TOD Toolkit is organized into four major categories: general TOD materials, regional opportunities and issues, corridor-scale overviews of Hiawatha, Central and Northstar corridors, and a spotlight on issues of importance at the neighborhood or station area scale. The materials are designed to be used individually or as a comprehensive basic TOD curriculum, with text included to help guide potential presenters. For most topic areas, the TOD Toolkit includes a powerpoint presentation and a 2-page summary that can be reprinted and used has handouts. Slides from any PowerPoint presentation can be copied and inserted into other presentations
10-part financing plan for TOD
An article in Mass Transit magazine presents a 10-part TOD financing plan for transit-oriented development. Writers John Stainback and William Reed from Stainback Real Estate say that the 10-part approach "should be helpful to private developers to convert a TOD which is financially infeasible to a project which is attractive to the equity and debt capital markets." A variety of public-private partnerships, tax credits and federal and state funding are discussed.
National TOD Database now accessible to RA members
CTOD works with an extensive GIS database that combines a demographic snapshot of who presently lives near transit with information on travel behavior in each transit region of the country. We’ve recently created a password-protected seciton of our website to allow access to this valuable resource to members of Reconnecting America. Join now to get your password. For more information, click "Get Connected" in the sidebar.
New study sheds light on walkability
A new study conducted by the University of Oregon and San José State University reveals that people often walk farther than they had thought despite their desire to minimize time and distance. Other results suggest that design is less important than accessibility.