Metro Connects
Service Quality Investments
EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED COMMUNITIES By supporting housing, services, and jobs near transit, Metro Connects will strengthen communities. Metro will consider surrounding land uses when it plans transit service and will take an active role in building and promoting compact development and pedestrian-oriented improvements. Communities will benefit from more travel options, more affordable housing, and more transit users.
What will Metro’s equitable transit-oriented communities program look like? Equitable transit-oriented communities (TOC) enable people to drive less and access transit more easily. They embody a holistic approach to place-making through intentional and coordinated land use planning, development, and public investment. In TOCs dense, mixed-use, mixed-income development is concentrated near frequent transit to enable more people of all backgrounds and income levels to benefit from improved mobility. Compact mixed-use development combined with frequent transit reduces trip making, trip length, and encourages alternatives to driving alone. More trips can be made through transit, walking, biking, or rolling, instead of driving. This helps communities grow to be healthy and sustainable. Metro will strive to support and strengthen the communities it serves with transit. It recognizes the importance of integrating land use and transit service to advance equity and address climate change. Evidence shows that it is the combination of increased transit service, increase land use density, and equitable pricing of vehicle usage together that drives down car travel, no one strategy alone will get there. 21 Metro will work with partners at the County and regional planning levels to advocate for transit-supportive and inclusive land use policies and programs. Metro will consider existing and future land uses when planning new services and siting new facilities. Metro will seek opportunities to leverage investments in transit infrastructure to meet community development and King County goals. Metro will proactively manage its properties and identify opportunities to create equitable, transit-oriented development, including affordable housing. Metro will partner with others when possible and support projects that strengthen communities. Similar to a TOC, a transit-oriented development (TOD) is a private or public/private real estate development. Typically, it is located within a 10-minute walkshed of frequent transit service. It often includes a mix of uses and its design is influenced by its proximity to frequent transit service. Typical TODs include:
Rodier, Caroline J. (2009) A Review of the International Modeling Literature: Transit, Land Use and Auto Pricing Strategies to Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-09-39 21
King County Metro Long Range Plan
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