Transit-oriented development, or TOD, commonly refers to a district or neighborhood where a dynamic mix of residential, commercial, and employment uses are centered around a transit resource with features which are designed to maximize use of public transit to and from that area, and where pedestrian and local transportation are prioritized to connect people to transit. In Marin, where many existing neighborhoods are considered built-out, the term is understood to refer to assessing local conditions and needs and strategically locating transit amenities near the highest existing densities or most desirable destinations, and improving local connectivity to those destinations and their transit amenities.
Pedestrian-oriented Design, or PeD, refers to design that prioritizes the comfort and safety of the pedestrian over, or at least equal to, the convenience of automobiles. Marin is a heavily auto-dependent county, despite good weather and convenient and interesting town centers that provide exemplary conditions for walkability. PeD in this context refers to improving conditions for pedestrian (and bicycle) access and safety in order to encourage a healthier balance between walking and driving.
While most TOD efforts in other areas focus on land use in relation to rail transit, Marin’s bus transit corridors can provide a high-level of transit accessibility and amenity to support TOD. Some of Marin’s larger municipalities, such as Novato and San Rafael, have more local-serving bus service, and many of Marin’s smaller downtowns and centers are served by regional routes, which provide opportunities for the implementation of TOD and PeD supportive projects. The Marin County Transit District’s Short Range Transit Plan, adopted in 2006, proposes many service changes and improvements that jurisdictions can plan around and capitalize on, such as more frequent bus service in certain key corridors, for the realization of TOD.
The proposed SMART rail system would add to the range of available transit and commute choices for Marin residents, providing significant new opportunities for TOD and PeD improvements in the areas surrounding the five proposed stations in Larkspur, San Rafael, and Novato. MTC is currently working with these jurisdictions to study opportunities for TOD in the station areas and could make funding available through Station Area Planning grants, as well as Housing Incentive Program (HIP) and Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) capital grants, to cities looking to take advantage of opportunities for TOD.
Opportunities to implement some TOD projects need not wait for improved bus service or SMART however, as residents already have the ability to commute by bus and achieve many, though perhaps not yet all, daily trips by foot, bicycle or transit. Implementation of PeD and local circulation improvements, such as improvement of the network of multi-modal streets, can provide transportation and quality of life benefits independent of transit investment. PeD improvements are also precursors to and will help to implement TOD, especially if these projects are targeted to areas that are likely to get improved transit service as increases in transit funding occur. Safe multi-modal streets and interconnected networks of streets and paths can reduce the number of school-related automobile trips as well as serve other broader access and pedestrian bike/safety concerns.
The goal of creating trip destinations that offer a mix of uses and the conversion of single use districts into walkable areas with multiple destinations and uses is common to both the TOD and PeD approaches. Creating more mixed use, walkable districts and activity nodes will help to reduce the number of daily trips in Marin by making these areas more effective destinations as people who have arrived there, regardless by which mode, will be better able to achieve multiple tasks on foot. Mixed-use PeD environments afford both the young and old with valuable and accessible destinations as well as new transportation choices.
TOD and PeD projects of any scale, small or large, have the opportunity to maximize the value of existing places and resources by making them more accessible and useful to Marin’s residents. The following discussion looks at conditions, opportunities, and impediments to realizing TOD and PeD in Marin.
B-4.1 Transit-oriented Development, Pedestrian-oriented Design and A Multi-modal Approach to Street and Network Design in Marin
If alternative modes are to succeed in reducing the overall number of vehicular trips made by residents, employees, and visitors in Marin, some critical changes have to be made to the transportation system. These changes are largely related to the concepts of connectivity and the capacity of streets to provide balanced accessibility and mobility for more than one transportation mode.
Creating A Well-connected Circulation Network
A high level of connectivity between residences and places of retail, business, employment, education, and social activity is essential for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users alike. However, a well-connected circulation network is also beneficial for vehicular traffic, as it tends to allow for alternative routes and for a separation of local and sub-regional and regional trips. Topography and suburban development patterns have resulted in a branching roadway system in most areas of Marin. This has focused the full range of local to regional transportation functions onto individual arterials serving a string of communities, while the branch-like roadway network has created circuitous and indirect routes that tend to discourage people from walking and bicycling. Similarly, indirect routes to bus stops and other transit-related facilities discourage people from use of transit.
Creating mode-specific (bicycle and/or pedestrian) and integrated multi-modal transportation routes that provide alternatives to overburdened arterials is another important aspect of increasing the connectivity of Marin’s transportation system. This applies particularly to routes that parallel major arterials and State Highway 101. Such routes could reduce the number of strictly local trips on arterials or the freeway. Shifts of trips onto such parallel routes need to be critically evaluated for their effects on potential cut-through traffic in residential neighborhoods adjacent to the major arterials. For this reason, traffic calming measures that discourage cut-though traffic are included in the toolkit. In addition, bicycle routes that parallel busy arterials allow less experienced riders to bicycle away from the perceived hazards of a busy arterial and also help in situations where the available right-of-way for multi-modal improvements does not allow for inclusion of bicycle lanes.
Highway 101 in Marin produces a barrier effect for pedestrians and bicyclists. The freeway reduces the frequency of connections between the circulation networks on either side (including vehicular connections), the provision of safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle connections across existing over- or underpasses is limited or lacking, and highway on- and off-ramps on roadways that cross under or over Highway 101 (and other freeways in Marin) create safety concerns for crossing pedestrians and bicyclists. These issues can be alleviated by building new multi-modal connections across or underneath the freeway, by building new or upgrading sidewalks and bicycle facilities (i.e. bicycle lanes) of existing over- and underpasses, and by designing freeway on- and off-ramps to maximize pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Creating Multi-modal Streets
Achieving a well-connected circulation network alone is not sufficient, as each individual segment of this network has to meet a range of safety and design criteria specific to each mode that uses the respective segment. Therefore, making Marin’s transportation system multi-modal means that all existing and future transportation facilities (streets, bridges, paths, sidewalks, etc) need to be evaluated for their capacity to safely carry multi-modal trips.
While many of Marin’s residential streets with sidewalks and low vehicular traffic can accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists, this may not be true of streets that do not have curbs and sidewalks, and along major collector streets and arterials with high volumes of vehicular traffic. Marin’s heavily traveled arterials should be particularly high priority targets for efforts to make streets multi-modal, as topography often renders these streets as the only connection between adjacent neighborhoods or even entire communities. In most cases, safe accommodation of pedestrians and bicyclists on arterials will involve providing curbs, wider sidewalks, improved crossings, upgraded bus stops, and bicycle lanes. In some cases, it may not be possible to meet all safety and design criteria within the available (or acquirable) right-of-way. Then, on a case-by-case basis, and with the involvement of all affected stakeholders, trade-offs will have to be made to determine which and to which extent individual modes can be accommodated. Trade-offs involved in this process may include the responsible reduction of space available for vehicular traffic, the accommodation of some modes at the minimum end of applicable design criteria ranges (i.e. width), or the routing of bicycle traffic on alternative parallel routes (if available).
Place-making in the Public Realm
In addition, it is critical to the functionality and acceptability of modes alternative to the automobile that facilities and amenities associated with walking, bicycling, and transit use be attractive and designed to fit well with the existing or desired future character of the area. Attractive, safe and functional bus stops, for instance, will further advance transit use by projecting a positive image of this mode, a fact supported by recent improvements to many bus transit systems around the country. Consideration should be given to how stops along key arterials and within the Highway 101 right-of-way can be upgraded not only in accessibility but also in their attractiveness and overall image. Similarly, a well-buffered, attractive sidewalk that accommodates activities likely to occur in a given land use context, will invite people to walk to destinations in their neighborhood, or along an arterial that may also function as the main street of their neighborhood or community.
B-4.2 Why Multi-Modal Streets and a Well-Connected Circulation Network are Essential to TOD/PeD
A well-connected circulation network and multi-modal streets are the two most critical concepts for advancing TOD/PeD in Marin. While a well-connected circulation network will create the connectivity required to successfully encourage residents to walk or bicycle to nearby destinations or to walk to transit, multi-modal streets are designed to safely accommodate the varied needs of all included transportation modes. These needs involve not only functionality and safety but also the need for attractiveness and a sense-of-place. The place-making afforded by well-designed streets can create a network of high quality environments between residences and places, nodes, and districts in a community.
Establishing a well-connected street network and building multi-modal streets will also support a community’s efforts to establish compact, sustainable development that maximizes the benefits of already existing infrastructure and preserves resources at the urban and suburban fringe. In communities that are interested in multi-modal improvements and their benefits, but not yet ready to approve higher density housing or mixed-use development, connectivity and multi-modal improvements create a pedestrian-supportive and bicycle-accessible environment that can serve as a precursor to transit-oriented development and render an area “TOD-ready”.
In addition, the retrofitting of strip development and single-use employment areas (along major arterials and along Highway 101) with a well connected pedestrian circulation network can prepare such areas for an increase the mix and variety of uses (i.e. introduction of employment and housing uses in commercial areas and retail and service uses, and possibly housing, in employment areas) and creates the potential for people to include walking trips to stores or services into their daily routine that so not require additional vehicular trips beyond the initial commute or trip to the destination.
Jointly, improved connectivity and multi-modal streets will help to reduce the number of trips made by automobile.
B-4.3 How TOD/PeD Create Opportunities for New Land Use Choices
As a result of a broader array of transportation choices, TOD and PeD can also catalyze creation of new land uses that were not feasible in previously existing markets. Two concepts are central to the land use component of TOD and PeD:
Concepts 1 and 2b are critical as they allow communities and districts in Marin that have minimal or no transit service to create walkable districts and neighborhoods that can reduce overall auto use and create vibrant centers by providing multiple activities in a single location. Even if such a location is reached by automobile, additional trips may be saved if a variety of shopping, service, civic use, or other destinations are located within walking distance of where a car is parked. Implementation of PeD (Pedestrian-oriented Design) principals also makes places safer for children, seniors, and others to walk to shopping to school, for recreation, or just to visit friends.
Additional benefits are gained along a sliding scale of increasing transit service levels, with the most benefits realized in transit-rich areas with commuter rail, ferry, and high-frequency bus service that is matched by an interconnected circulation system of pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
Many developed areas in Marin today are places of single-use, comprised of or dominated by either residential, retail, employment, or civic development. However, opportunities exist to transform many of these areas into places that offer a mix of uses and destinations. Depending on local conditions this can occur through addition of uses in the form of horizontal and vertical mixed-use infill development, addition of floor area to existing buildings, conversion of existing single-use buildings into mixed-use buildings, and conversion of surface parking lots into new development with structured parking. Any such retrofitting of single-use retail, employment, or civic areas should be combined with appropriate improvements to the pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure and under consideration of TOD/PeD urban design principles described in Section C-2.
As well, mixed-use and transit-oriented housing can be important factors in addressing the equity-related goals of the TPLUS program. Greater opportunities for intensification of residential uses (stand-alone residential and residential mixed-use projects) exist within a one-quarter to one-half mile walking distance of a station with high-frequency transit and commuter service. Case studies have shown that car-ownership and usage within these areas is reduced and households are less burdened with the associated expenses. In many such areas, Location Efficient Mortgages are available to aid homebuyers in purchasing homes where they ordinarily would not qualify for a conventional mortgage. Location Efficient Mortgages (LEMs) recognize that people located in transit-rich locations save significant amounts of money by using a car less, or not at all, which allows them to pay a greater portion of their income towards their mortgage. Similarly, affordable housing located in these station areas is particularly desirable and beneficial for families and individuals who cannot afford to own a car. TOD and PeD create conditions in which a broader range of housing and other land use types are made available.