How Regulatory Changes Facilitate Transit Oriented Development

Darnell Chadwick Grisby, director of policy development and research for the American Public Transportation Association and a participant in ULI’s Washington’s Regional Land Use Leadership Institute, introduces the evolving toolkit and demographic realities that will make it easier for developers to build communities oriented to transit.

Grisby's survey of the contemporary realities of transit oriented development includes a discussion of demographic and survey data, funding trends, and the prevalence of metrics for ridership and boardings. On that last point Grisby, describes how those metrics, rather than traditional measure of travel time, will make it easier for developers to deliver TOD: 

"The primary federal program that funds mass transit construction, known as New Starts, is shifting its focus says Jeff Boothe, a partner and TOD expert at the Holland & Knight law firm. The new focus is on ridership and boardings rather than travel time, 'meaning how fast we can go from the suburbs to downtown,' he says.

"This is a positive outcome for developers, Boothe says, because projects will more often go 'to the heart of where development is located and planned' rather than 'to a freeway median or freight railway right-of-way.' This means that for a mass transit project to be competitive for federal funds, place making becomes even more important.

"As a result, agency decisions will better facilitate real estate development, Boothe says. 'We will see fewer and fewer projects that choose the path of least resistance, because the feds will incentivize those that work with developers to both impact the built environment and positively impact the local political environment around development.'"