Do TODs Make a Difference?

Arthur C. Nelson, University of Utah

Co-investigators:

Summary:

The United States is moving into a new era of metropolitan development and form. The demographic, economic and finance drivers that made America a suburban nation may have run their course. America will see a shift toward infill and redevelopment. Facilitating this will be fixed-guideway transit systems and the transit oriented developments (TODs) they serve. In this report, we present research that measures the outcomes of TOD areas in relation to their metropolitan area controls with respect to (1) jobs by sector; (2) housing choice for household types based on key demographic characteristics; (3) housing affordability based on transportation costs; and (4) job-worker balance as a measure of accessibility. Prior literature has not systematically evaluated TOD outcomes in these respects with respect to light rail transit (LRT), commuter rail transit (CRT), bus rapid transit (BRT), and streetcar transit (SCT) systems. Our analysis helps close some of these gaps. We apply our analysis to 23 fixed-guideway transit systems operating in 17 metropolitan areas in the South and West that have one or more of those systems.

Project Details

Project Type:
Research
Project Status:
Completed
End Date:
December 31,2015
UTC Grant Cycle:
Tier 1 Round 1
UTC Funding:
$91,000
TRB RIP:
32164

Downloadable Products

Other Products

  • News from the TOD Squad (PRESENTATION)
  • Arthur C. Nelson & Susan Petheram, "Using the Real Estate Market to Establish Light Rail Station Catchment Areas: Case Study of Attached Residential Property Values in Salt Lake County with Respect to Light Rail Station Distance" (PRESENTATION)
  • Arthur C. Nelson, BUS RAPID TRANSIT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: CASE STUDY OF THE EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD, OREGON BRT SYSTEM (PRESENTATION)
  • Arthur C. Nelson & Susan Petheram, "Using the Real Estate Market to Establish Light Rail Station Catchment (PRESENTATION)
  • Nelson, Lui, Miller, Ewing. "Do TODs Make a Difference?" Preliminary results. (PRESENTATION)