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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Bus transit provides many benefits to transit riders, the envi- Transit agencies were surveyed to determine their experi-
ronment, and the business community. Transit serves low ences with land developments. Questions were posed to
income populations that have no other travel alternatives, but examine various aspects of the development process, includ-
also increasingly serves higher income groups who choose to ing levels of coordination, relationships with stakeholders,
ride transit because it is cheaper and less stressful than driving. and an assessment of how soon transit is considered in devel-
The availability of transit allows for higher density of devel- opment planning. Agencies were asked to provide examples
opment and increases the market area of adjoining businesses. of successful as well as unsuccessful projects.
To support transit users there must be coordination The survey of selected transit agencies also explored the
between transit agencies and land development projects. This purpose and use of transit agency development guidelines.
coordination extends beyond the bus stop or the street on The components of the guidelines were identified and copies
which the bus operates. Access to transit from the surround- of guidelines were requested. In addition, the survey provided
ing environs is as important as the service itself. If access to an opportunity for transit agencies to answer open-ended
a bus stop is blocked by physical barriers, such as iron fenc- questions to probe for best practices and major challenges.
ing or busy arterial streets without safe crosswalks, then the
transit service is effectively unavailable. Five case studies were developed to highlight successful
coordination efforts between bus transit planning and land
Influencing the form of land use and new development is development planning. The case studies are the Central
not usually within the scope of transit planners. That respon- Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) in
sibility generally rests with local elected officials. Transit Orlando, Florida; the Centre Area Transportation Authority
planners must build relationships with local governments (CATA) in State College, Pennsylvania; Omnitrans in San
and other stakeholders to improve the integration of bus tran- Bernardino, California; Metro Transit in Minneapolis,
sit and land development. Minnesota; and GO Boulder in Boulder, Colorado.
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES REPORT ORGANIZATION
This synthesis documents the relationship between bus tran- This report is organized into the following chapters:
sit service and planning for land development. It identifies
practices that are used to ensure that transit interests play a · Chapter One--Introduction
meaningful role in the planning and design of new develop- · Chapter Two--Literature Review
ments. The synthesis also provides the state of the practice · Chapter Three--Survey Results
regarding the use and components of transit agency develop- · Chapter Four--Case Studies
ment guidelines. · Chapter Five--Challenges to Integrating Bus Transit
Service and Land Development Planning
TECHNICAL APPROACH TO PROJECT · Chapter Six--Strategies That Support Integration of
Bus Transit Service and Land Development Planning
This synthesis is based on a literature review, a survey of · Chapter Seven--Use and Application of Guidelines to
selected transit agencies, and development of case studies. Incorporate Bus Transit Service into New Developments
· Chapter Eight--Conclusions
The literature review was conducted to assess the body of
research available on this subject. On-line searches were con- References and a Bibliography are provided at the end of
ducted using a variety of government and university data- the report. Appendixes include the survey questionnaire
bases, including the Transportation Research Information annotated with number of responses (Appendix A), a list of
Services (TRIS). Documents directly related to this subject agencies that responded to the survey (Appendix B), and a
are included as references throughout this report and in the list of transit agencies that provided transit agency develop-
Bibliography. The Bibliography also includes websites that ment guidelines (Appendix C). Web links are provided for
contain relevant and interesting information on this subject. those agencies with on-line guidelines.
