Transit Planners’ Transit-Oriented Development-Related Practices and Theories

Abstract

Transit’s land use-shaping capability is an important justification and goal for fixed-guideway transit investment. While transit facility designs are expected to inform transit-oriented development (TOD), little research has examined how U.S. professionals incorporate TOD considerations into transit project planning. Through interviews, this study described how transit professionals identified TOD opportunities and how TOD considerations informed project designs across 19 U.S. regions, often substantially. However, the ways interviewees identified TOD opportunities were often inconsistent with the TOD literature, which may partially explain some transit planners’ unmet TOD expectations. Findings suggest that there is room for improvement in practitioners’ TOD-related transit planning practices.