Benefits of TOD
Implementing TOD can have significant benefits to individuals, communities and regions. Coordinated investment in transportation and land use projects promotes sustainability, encourages fiscal responsibility and improves the quality of life for citizens by: reducing the need for travel and creating shorter journeys; providing easier and safer access to jobs, schools and services; supporting more efficient use of the land and existing infrastructure; and maintaining the environmental benefits of compact development. The extent to which this progress is made depends largely on the type and quality of transit service available as well as the primary characteristics of the TOD. Best practices in North America have identified the following benefits from TOD at the personal, community, and regional levels.
Personal Benefits
- Increased mobility choices. By creating “activity nodes” linked by transit, TOD provides much needed mobility options, including options for young people, the elderly and people who do not own cars or prefer not to use a car for the trip.
- Increased disposable household income. Housing and transportation are the first and second largest household expenses, respectively. TOD can effectively increase disposable income by reducing the need for more than one car and reducing driving costs. Residents in transit rich neighbourhoods spend 16% less on transportation than those living in auto dependent neighbourhoods according to a recent study by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development.
- Increased health benefits. TOD promotes a healthier lifestyle by making it more convenient to walk than to drive and providing the infrastructure that supports walking and biking. According to recent studies, people who live in neighbourhoods within an easy walk of shops and businesses are seven percent less likely to be obese.
Community Benefits
- Increased public safety. By creating active places that are busy through the day and evening and providing “eyes on the street,” TOD helps increase safety for pedestrians, transit users, and many others.
- Protection of existing mature neighbourhoods. TOD directs higher density development to appropriate areas near transit stations, thereby reducing pressure to build higher density development within existing mature neighbourhoods.
- Conservation of resource lands and open space. TOD often uses infill, greyfield and brownfield sites to redevelop and intensify existing urban areas. It reduces the amount of sprawl development that traditionally occurs on vacant, rural land at the fridge of urban areas. Because TOD consumes less land than low-density, auto-oriented growth, farmland and open space can be protected.
- Enhanced local economic development. TOD is increasingly used as a tool to help revitalize neighbourhood main streets and declining mature neighbourhoods, and to enhance tax revenues for local jurisdictions.
- Decreased local infrastructure costs over time. Depending on local circumstances, TOD can help reduce new infrastructure costs (such as for water, sanitary sewer, and roads) to local governments and property owners by up to 25 percent through more compact and infill development. While upfront infrastructure improvements may be necessary to support additional density, others improvements to extend services to the urban fringe may not be needed, reducing infrastructure cost over time.
- Increased land values. Locations next to transit can enjoy increases in land values by as much as 50 percent in comparison to locations away from transit stops. During the current economy, neighbourhoods closer to city centres have held their value unlike suburban areas which have lost value. Consumer preference will continue to be for mixed-use infill TOD around high quality transit.
Regional Benefits
- Increased transit ridership. TOD improves the efficiency and effectiveness of transit service investments by increasing the use of transit near stations by 20 to 40 percent, and up to five percent overall at the regional level.
- Reduced rates of vehicle kilometres traveled (VKT). Vehicle travel has been increasing faster than population growth in many jurisdictions. TOD can lower annual household rates of driving by 20-40 percent for those living, working and/or shopping within transit station areas. Recent research shows that automobile ownership in TOD is approximately one half the national average.
- Reduced air pollution and energy consumption rates. By providing safe and easy pedestrian and cyclist access to transit, TOD can lower rates of air pollution and energy consumption. TOD can also reduce rates of greenhouse gas emissions by 2.27 to 3.35 tonnes (2.5 to 3.7 tons) per year per household.
- Greater affordable options for housing. TOD can add to the supply of housing that is considered affordable by providing lower-cost and accessible housing, and by reducing household transportation expenditures. It was recently estimated that housing costs for land and structures can be significantly reduced through more compact growth patterns. In 2008, households could have saved an average of $9,499 US if they used transit instead of driving.10
- Greater housing choice. As the Baby Boomer generation moves to the empty-nest phase of life and the traditional nuclear family shrinks as a percent of all households, the demand for smaller homes has increased. Surveys of consumers have recently found that 37 to 57 percent of households prefer small lots and clustered development. TOD focuses on smaller lots, providing opportunities for people to age in place.
Last update:
June 10, 2010
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