LA Metro Opposes TOD Law, Fearing Backlash to Transit Expansion

A majority of the Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors, including Mayor Karen Bass, are asking the state to grant Metro an exemption to Senate Bill 79, a law designed to encourage transit-oriented development (TOD) in California.

As Damien Newton explains in Streetsblog California, The law allows for denser development within a half mile of rail or bus rapid transit stations and allows transit agencies to set zoning standards on property they own. “For housing advocates, SB 79 is a critical tool to add more homes near the places Californians already live and work.”

However, the board opposes the law on the grounds that it could galvanize opposition to transit expansion. A Metro report argues that “the statute’s ambiguous definitions of qualifying transit stops and its sweeping requirements complicate coordination with local jurisdictions, potentially delaying projects and weakening the agency’s capacity to plan and build rail and bus corridors.”

Proponents of the law say densifying land around transit stations is one of the best ways to increase ridership and thus revenue for transit agencies like Metro.