TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

WHAT IS TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT?

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is the intentional design of places within the first one-half to one-quarter mile of a transit station to encourage transit use, walking and biking. TOD is compact, mixed use and walkable.

WHY TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) AND TRANSIT CORRIDOR PLANNING?

When a community decides to invest in premium transit, there is also a need to strategically invest in growth patterns that reflect the design principles of Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Getting a good return on transit investments means attracting as many transit riders to the system as possible. The location and design of streets, building edges, parking and open space combined with the total amount of housing and jobs located within walking distance (approximately ¼ mile) of transit stations has a direct impact on people’s propensity, ability and choice to use transit, walk or bike. Therefore, good planning for transit also means good planning to support TOD along the entire transit corridor.

TOD PLACETYPES

There is no one-size fits all approach to TOD, rather there are universal design principles as noted above and a spectrum of TOD Placetypes that can be used to guide land use and transportation policies. Having a range of TOD Placetypes allows for a different mix of uses and overall density that best matches the existing community context and aligns with the local vision for development, infill and redevelopment within each station area along a transit corridor. For the US 98 Corridor in Lakeland, the study team has identified three different TOD Placetypes. The purpose of doing so at this phase of the US 98 Transit Feasibility study is to explore station locations and potential buildout conditions which in turn can help to further refine premium transit options that may be possible.   The following pages provides an introduction to each of the TOD Placetypes.

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