Transit-oriented smart growth can reduce life-cycle environmental impacts and household costs in Los Angeles

Authors

Matthew J. Nahlik
Mikhail V. Chester

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2014

Subject Area

place - north america, mode - bus rapid transit, mode - tram/light rail, land use - transit oriented development, land use - smart growth, land use - impacts, economics - benefits, economics - capital costs, economics - operating costs, planning - environmental impact

Keywords

Transit-oriented development, Life-cycle assessment, Transportation and land-use planning, Los Angeles, Greenhouse gas emissions, Energy and air quality

Abstract

The environmental and economic assessment of neighborhood-scale transit-oriented urban form changes should include initial construction impacts through long-term use to fully understand the benefits and costs of smart growth policies. The long-term impacts of moving people closer to transit require the coupling of behavioral forecasting with environmental assessment. Using new light rail and bus rapid transit in Los Angeles, California as a case study, a life-cycle environmental and economic assessment is developed to assess the potential range of impacts resulting from mixed-use infill development. An integrated transportation and land use life-cycle assessment framework is developed to estimate energy consumption, air emissions, and economic (public, developer, and user) costs. Residential and commercial buildings, automobile travel, and transit operation changes are included and a 60-year forecast is developed that compares transit-oriented growth against growth in areas without close access to high-capacity transit service. The results show that commercial developments create the greatest potential for impact reductions followed by residential commute shifts to transit, both of which may be effected by access to high-capacity transit, reduced parking requirements, and developer incentives. Greenhouse gas emission reductions up to 470 Gg CO₂-equivalents per year can be achieved with potential costs savings for TOD users. The potential for respiratory impacts (PM₁₀-equivalents) and smog formation can be reduced by 28–35%. The shift from business-as-usual growth to transit-oriented development can decrease user costs by $3100 per household per year over the building lifetime, despite higher rental costs within the mixed-use development.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transport Policy Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X

Recommended Citation

Nahlik, M.J. & Chester, M.V. (2014). Transit-oriented smart growth can reduce life-cycle environmental impacts and household costs in Los Angeles. Transport Policy, Vol. 35, pp. 21–30.