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Smart Growth / Transportation for Livable Communities

TLCSmart Growth in the Bay Area

MTC has developed new policies, funding programs and technical studies to foster livability in our communities, improve the quality of our development patterns and enhance alternatives to auto travel. These efforts include:

Each of these are described below, with links to the relevant studies, policies or programs. More extensive links are shown at the bottom of this page. Additional Smart Growth Web sites are available here.

Transit-Oriented Development:
Transit Villages, Policies and Studies

In 2008 MTC staff commissioned Reconnecting America to work with staff to develop new ideas for a funding program that would move beyond MTC's 10 year old TLC program. The report, Financing Transit Oriented Development in the San Francisco Bay Area: Policy Options and Strategies (PDF), outlines a number of potential strategies to directly support TOD. MTC will be working with its partners throughout the Bay Area to develop new program guidelines as the agency seeks to advance TOD.

All around the Bay Area, transit villages are being developed that provide housing, jobs, retail and community services in vibrant walkable communities close to transit. 10 shining examples of transit-oriented development are showcased in New Places, New Choices: Transit-Oriented Development in the San Francisco Bay Area using color photos and a display of key information.

People living and working close to transit walk and use transit more than those living farther from transit. A recent MTC analysis of the travel choices of people living close to rail stations and ferries in the Bay Area describes the travel patterns, mode choices and other key characteristics in the Station Area Residents Survey (STARS) Report.

In order to support the development of such communities around new transit lines and stations, MTC adopted a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Policy (PDF) that applies to key transit extension projects in the Bay Area. The TOD Policy is designed to promote cost-effective transit, ease regional housing shortages, create vibrant communities and preserves open space. MTC’s TOD policy was developed through an extensive analytical and outreach process that assessed the opportunities, benefits and barriers for increased levels of TOD in the San Francisco Bay Area TOD Study. In July 2006, the first review of the policy was conducted and an interim report (PDF) is available online.

Transit-oriented developments in the Bay Area are the subject of a lead article in MTC's newsletter, Transactions.

Focusing our Vision: Smart Growth and Sustainable Development

What will the Bay Area be like in the future? How can the next million people living in the region contribute to a better Bay Area for all of us? What changes will take place in the region’s cities, towns, neighborhoods and open spaces?

“Focusing Our Vision” (FOCUS) is a Bay Area-wide effort to promote compact and equitable development that protects and enhances quality of life, and preserves open space and agricultural resources. FOCUS seeks to strengthen existing city centers, locate more housing near existing and future rail stations and quality bus lines, encourage more compact and walkable suburbs, and protect regional open space. For more information on FOCUS, visit www.bayareavision.org.

FOCUS is being guided by the Joint Policy Committee (JPC). State legislation established the JPC to establish a regional planning forum including MTC, Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). The JPC seeks to meld regional and local objectives into a more refined planning strategy for the Bay Area based on the Bay Area’s Smart Growth Vision as adopted by the regional agencies. For more information on the JPC and the region’s adopted smart growth policies, visit www.abag.ca.gov/jointpolicy/.

The Bay Area's Smart Growth Vision, as expressed in the Smart Growth Preamble and Policies (PDF) and the Smart Growth Strategy / Regional Livability Footprint Project (PDF) serves as the foundation for the development of regional smart growth policies.

The I-80 Interregional Smart Growth Study includes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento regions, specifically along the I-80/Capitol Corridor through Solano, Yolo, Sacramento and Placer counties (2006-2007).

Transportation for Livable Communities & Housing Incentive Program

In 1998, MTC launched the Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program. Since then, MTC has awarded over $80 million dollars to more than 80 local projects that support multimodal travel, more livable neighborhoods and the development of jobs and housing in existing town centers. Successful projects improve walking and bicycle access to public transit hubs and stations, major activity centers and neighborhood commercial districts as a way of fostering community vitality. The program provides technical assistance and capital grants to help cities, neighborhoods, transit agencies and nonprofit agencies develop transportation-related projects fitting the TLC profile.

In November of 2000, the program was expanded to include a Housing Incentive Program (HIP). HIP rewards local governments that build housing near transit hubs by offering grants to cities based on project density, project size, and the number of affordable units.

In 2007, MTC staff conducted an evaluation of the TLC programs titled Ten Years of TLC: An Evaluation of MTC's Transportation for Livable Communities. The evaluation includes survey results from both project sponsors and community groups. Recommendations and next steps in the ongoing evolution of the program are outlined in the evaluation. Staff also completed case studies, found in Appendix A to main report.

Station Area Plans

As outlined in MTC’s Transit-Oriented Development Policy (PDF), future transit extensions in the Bay Area must be matched by supportive local land use plans and policies. To assist cities in meeting these goals, MTC has launched a a Station Area Planning grant program to fund city-sponsored planning efforts for the areas around future stations. These station-area plans are intended to address the range of transit-supportive features that are necessary to support high levels of transit ridership.

The plans are required to include the following elements:

  • Land use within the half-mile radius of the station, with a clear identification of the number of existing and planned housing units and jobs;
  • Station access and circulation, including strategies to overcome barriers to pedestrian and bicycle access
  • Strategies to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities, and overcome barriers to wheelchair access
  • Design policies and standards
  • Parking demand and parking requirements
  • Implementation plan, including market demand and phasing

The first round of grantees are making progress on their plans as outlined in the TOD Policy Interim Report (PDF). The list of grantees can be found here (PDF).

MTC developed a Station Area Planning Manual (PDF) for use by local jurisdictions applying for planning grant funds from MTC. The manual highlights essential planning elements as well as the variety of placetypes which jurisdictions can plan for, from Regional city centers to transit neighborhoods — and everywhere in between.

MTC's Commission approved the Second Cycle of Station Area Planning grants (PDF) in summer 2008.

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Parking Policies to Support Smart Growth

Parking policies play a key role in shaping development patterns in communities throughout the Bay Area — and have a major impact on the quality and feasibility of transit-oriented development. The cost of providing parking in TODs is very substantial, often amounting to $30,000 – $60,000 for construction of structured parking, but the costs are typically hidden in building costs, purchase prices and rent. Excessive and under-priced parking can drive up the cost of development and undermine the use of other travel modes — especially walking and transit — even in areas with high-quality transit and pedestrian amenities provided at considerable public expense. MTC is working with select Bay Area jurisdictions that have an interest in exploring innovative parking policies around transit hubs and town centers. During 2007, MTC will develop a training toolbox for jurisdictions interested in designing their own locally appropriate parking policies to support TOD and infill. For more information on the Parking Study and its progress, click here.

Smart Links

From universities, planners and communities across the Bay Area and across the nation, there are large numbers of studies, policies, plans and reports of best practices in the field of smart growth / transit-oriented development. We have noted some of the most important studies, policies, plans, reports of best practices, and Bay Area contacts.

There is a great deal of excitement in this field, and a vast and rapidly growing body of relevant work — we cannot catalogue all the good examples. Many of the best and most current are noted in the numerous e-mail newsletters, as noted in the link, that have sprung up to keep abereast of developments in this area.

For more information, contact James Corless at 510.817.5709, jcorless@mtc.ca.gov.