Innovative Intermodal Solutions for Urban Transportation Paper Award: Quantifying Transit-Oriented Development's Ability to Change Travel Behavior

John Gard

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2007

Subject Area

land use - transit oriented development, place - urban, mode - mass transit

Keywords

Trip purpose, Travel behavior, Transit riders, Transit oriented development, Transit, Sacramento (California), Ridership, Public transit, Patronage (Transit ridership), Mode share, Modal split, Methodology, Methodologies, Mass transit, Local transit, Data collection, Data acquisition, Case studies

Abstract

Neighbors often oppose proposals for transit-oriented development (TOD) projects due to concerns about potential increases in localized traffic congestion. Although residents and employees in TODs tend to use transit at high rates, the higher densities typically associated with TOD design can result in additional traffic on neighboring streets. These concerns are compounded by the lack of up-to-date and accurate data on transit usage rates and corresponding reductions in vehicle-trips generated by TODs. This article presents a new approach for determining the transit ridership and vehicle trips for two hypothetical TODs in Sacramento, California. The proposed approach builds on travel behavior data collected at existing TODs on several rail transit lines in California. It then uses mode split and trip purpose data specific to the Sacramento region to calibrate the approach to match local conditions. The methodology presented here can be extended to other regions if similar travel behavior data is available.

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