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MTC approves ground-breaking
policy!
On July 27, 2005, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) approved
a ground-breaking policy that establishes that new transit projects will not be
funded until cities plan and zone for a minimum threshold of homes around new stations, including pedestrian-
and bike-oriented design. These “transit villages” can ensure a good investment
of our regional transit dollars by increasing the number of riders and reducing
traffic. They can create vibrant communities that accommodate growth without
sprawling onto open space.
The Transportation and Land Use Coalition spearheaded the campaign, in
conjunction with
Greenbelt Alliance
and the
Non-Profit Housing
Association. TALC's
member groups were particularly instrumental in getting letters and postcards to
their Commissioners, and showing up at meetings to counter the arguments of
those who would like to continue the failed status quo. Thanks to all who helped
with this effort! While TALC wanted higher thresholds, MTC did include many of
our suggestions on parking, affordable housing, and more.
MTC’s TOD policy includes three key
elements:
1) Corridor-based performance measures
to quantify minimum levels of development
around transit stations. The minimum
thresholds will be based on the transit mode
— there will be a higher threshold for more
capital-intensive modes, such as BART.
In addition to the minimum thresholds, MTC
has included a number of our coalition’s
suggestions:
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Promoting
affordable housing: Plans for new affordable units will
count as 1.5 housing units toward the corridor threshold.
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Minimizing
space dedicated to parking: Cities must analyze future
TOD-related parking demand and parking requirements for
station area land uses, including pricing and shared parking
in station areas.
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Bicycle and
pedestrian plans: Station area plans must include
circulation plans for non-motorized access.
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Ensuring
walkability/reducing auto-orientation: Station area
plans must include design policies and standards must
include provisions for mixed-use developments and
pedestrian-scaled block sizes.
2) Funding
for station area plans for jobs and housing, station
access, design standards, appropriate levels of parking and
more.
3) The creation of corridor working groups to bring
together local government staff, transit agencies, county
congestion management agencies (CMAs) and other key
stakeholders along the corridor to help develop station area
plans to meet MTC's corridor-wide land-use thresholds.
To get all the details of the plan, please see the
resolution on MTC's website.
This policy will not itself solve the region's problems, but
it does create a tremendous opportunity to involve residents
in planning how and where their community will grow. This will
be the focus of the
Great Communities Collaborative.
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