Transit Area Designs and Funding Requirements Angela Imamura Environmental Sciences University of California at Berkeley Abstract The effects of funding requirements on transit area designs are rarely examined Moreover few studies have looked at how a regional agency such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission MTC is supporting community revitalization convenience and accessibility of transit use and transit focused developments This report summarizes case studies of two transit oriented redevelopment projects in the Bay Area which are partially funding through one of MTCs recently developed programs the Transportation for Livable Communities TLC program The first project is in West Oakland The plan for this project is to revitalize the Acorn and Prescott neighborhoods which are near the Acorn Shopping Plaza and in the West Oakland BART corridor The second project is in Richmond The plan there is to redevelop the Richmond BART Amtrak station by constructing a Transit Village on the vacant lots and parking lots surrounding the station Through interviews and data collection I found that the TLC funding guidelines affected the West Oakland project design However in Richmond I learned that the Transit Village was planned independently from the TLC funding requirements Evaluating a development incentive like regional funding for local projects is important in order to understand what regional transportation agencies can do to curb suburban sprawl and decrease private automobile use Introduction Two of the problems facing California and the United States are lower public transit ridership and increasing amounts of sprawl Transit ridership in the United States is lower than in many other developed countries while automobile use in the United States is increasing Pucher and Lefevre 1996 The country is using up supplies of oil to fuel Americans dependency on individual vehicles Developed nations are using up the world supply of gasoline a non renewable resource which is increasing the cost of gasoline The cost of gas in California is higher than the rest of the nation because of stricter air pollution regulations and a small supply of refineries that make the unique blend of reformulated gasoline that meets state requirements Hamm 2000 Therefore it is certainly beneficial for Californians to find alternative forms of transportation to meet some of their traveling needs The development of low density residential units which supports lower population densities is a popular form of development known as suburban sprawl If sprawl occurs on open space it is known as greenbelt development Suburban sprawl leaves less land available for wilderness and farmlands while increasing environmental degradation and traffic congestion Durning 1996 With available land space decreasing and population increasing more efficient uses of land are needed in order to decrease environmental degradation and automobile dependency Transit based developments are intended to reduce sprawl air pollution and congestion while improving the communities near transit stations Bernick and Freilich 1998 Redevelopment and enhancement projects are also encouraged because they improve the use of land and aesthetics in the inner city while deterring sprawling developments Improvements to public transportation including the areas surrounding transit stops may increase transit ridership and decrease automobile dependency Transit oriented developments TOD are intended to reduce congestion automobile use and associated trip lengths by increasing transit ridership and providing housing along transit lines Research has shown that transit service is most effective when supported by development with the following five characteristics 1 convenient transit access from residential to employment clusters on a regional scale 2 transit stations with concentrations of residents and employees within half a mile 3 mixed use development 4 convenient and attractive access to and from stations and 5 limitations on parking as an incentive to use transit Porter 1998 Cervero and Landis 1997 determined that coordination between land use regulations and development incentives are necessary to expand future development to the Bay Area Rapid Transit BART corridors Bernick and Freilich 1998 evaluated how government agencies can work with the private sector to create transit based developments They determined that transit agencies have become more active in working with the private sector to implement measures designed to increase development near transit stations which is believed will increase transit ridership In the Bay Area BART officials are partnering with local organizations to improve areas surrounding BART stations Vessali 1996 consolidated studies on land use impacts of rapid transit He focused on property value population and employment growth and changes in land use Vessali concluded that in order to create more efficient use of rapid transit there should be more supportive local land use policies and a local demand for high density development With the limited land space in the Bay Area high density developments are the most efficient use of land regardless of transit availability This study explored how the designs of a transit improvement project and its development process are affected by the availability of funds for transit oriented designs Moreover it examined how regional agencies are supporting community revitalization projects that aim to improve convenience and accessibility of transit use in a transit focused environment I have examined how a regional organization like the Metropolitan Transportation Commission MTC help different types of local organizations such as land use planners city agencies and non profit organizations NPO enhance transit environments I focused on two projects that were granted capital funding in the 1998 1999 fiscal year FY through MTC s Transportation for Livable Communities TLC program Moreover I have evaluated how influential the TLC program is in assisting the design of a project reach the stage of construction and how the availability of funds has affected the development of the projects The MTC has jurisdiction over transportation related issues in the San Francisco Bay Area and is located in Oakland CA Since early 1998 MTC s TLC program has provided monetary incentives for designers to create transportation related projects to foster pedestrian and bicycle friendly residential and employment
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