A study by the Transportation Research Board calculates "land use effect" and "ridership effect" to show how much land is saved when cities include public transit.
Angie Schmitt shares news of a "study published by the Transportation Research Board quantifies the spatial impact of transit in new ways [PDF]. Without transit, the researchers found, American cities would take up 37 percent more space."
The crux of the study's findings, as described by Schmitt: "By allowing urban areas to be built more compactly, the 'land use effect' of transit reduces driving much more than the substitution of car trips with transit trips. Total miles driven in American cities would be 8 percent higher without the land use effect of transit, the researchers concluded, compared to 2 percent higher if you forced everyone who rides transit to drive." The study also found evidence of a "ridership effect," or the substitution of transit trips for car trips, but the "land use effect" is four times as large.
Schmitt also notes that the study includes a Land Use Benefit Calculator [xls], which is intended to be used just as its name describes.
FULL STORY: Without Transit, American Cities Would Take Up 37 Percent More Space
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