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Local Frameworks
Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are sometimes the lead agencies for the planning of transit projects and often are delegated some authority by the state for other transportation planning. The principal objective has been to build the connection between transportation and land use, and, in some jurisdictions, resources such as water.
Researchers have articulated the need for planning-based approaches to encourage multi-modal, especially transit, solutions at the metropolitan and local levels. These include:
- Growth Boundaries or Regulatory Controls. States and metropolitan areas that have integrated policies around sustainability have created regulatory controls on growth in the interests of curbing sprawl.
- Planning and Zoning. An area’s comprehensive land use plan and resulting zoning for greenfields shape the location, mix, and intensity of new development. Master and neighborhood plans, and especially zoning, generally reflect relationships to transportation systems as they establish intended uses and intensities of use. A major planning consideration is highway, street, and pedestrian network layout, typically enforced at the local level through design standards and land subdivision controls.
- Building Codes, Subdivision Ordinances and Site-Specific, Flexible Zoning Strategies. At a site level, building codes, subdivision ordinances, and site-level zoning requirements such as planned unit developments and overlay zones often have provisions that impact land use, density, building envelope, and parking, and, therefore, on transportation options and travel behavior. Simple measure such as on-site parking requirements, often part of zoning codes, can be a powerful tool in designing for greater pedestrian activity and water resource protection. Reduced building setbacks move parking to the rear or sides of buildings and improve street continuity and access for pedestrians and bike and transit users.
- Incentives and Fees. In the context of transportation projects, government investment in infrastructure or programs can also entice development to particular areas. Pricing mechanisms, including tolling, may be applied to alter existing conditions in the marketplace that act as development signals.
- Congestion/Capacity Ordinances. Local jurisdictions have adopted ordinances that regulate the pace of new development to ensure adequate capacity and performance of existing and new public facilities, particularly if new development will increase traffic congestion beyond a specified threshold.
- Joint Development in TOD. This tool has been a critical aspect of the DART approach to building ridership in Dallas by fostering mixed-use destination development. In Oakland, BART played a critical role in the land deals on park-and-ride lots that they owned that made the Fruitvale plan possible.
- Innovative Financing for Multimodal Projects. The best-known example of this is the $1.67 billion Denver T-Rex project, which opened in November 2006. It has provided 17 miles of Rapid Transit Denver LRT service along the reconstructed and widened right-of-way of Interstate 25.