Expert Witness Services from Integrated Transport Research, Inc.
Answer this Question:

How does transit-oriented development change automobile traffic volumes and congestion in the vicinity of  transit stations?

Research by Integrated Transport Research, Inc indicates that vehicle traffic volume in transit station areas, sometimes called urban villages, is likely to increase as transit-oriented development proceeds over the course of years.  This change would be the result of more population living, working, and shopping in station areas, and the likely continuing significant use of automobiles despite the availability of transit access.

Here is a simple illustration of what can happen with local traffic congestion in an optimistic scenario for transit-oriented development that results in more housing, jobs, and shopping near a transit station:

The principals at ITR are able to describe traffic growth in cases like these as part of their expert witness services.  In addition to their own research, they have absorbed the theory and experience of transit-oriented development as depicted in the literature, including but not limited to the following:

Transit-Oriented Development Case Studies, by City of Seattle Strategic Planning Office, August 1999

Creating Transit Station Communities: A Transit-Oriented Development Workbook, by Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, June 1999

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Issues: A Primer/Anthology For Small and Medium MPOs, by Texas Transportation Institute, April 1999

Notes from "Urban Growth: Addressing the Reality of Suburbia" Conference held June 3-4, 1998, Phoenix, provided by Ken Hughes, New Mexico State Planner

Building Transit-Friendly Communities: A Design and Development Strategy for the Tri-State Metropolitan Region, by the Regional Plan Association, New York City, July 1997

Transportation, Land Use, and Sustainability, by Center for Urban Transportation Research, Tampa, 1994

Research-based expert witness services cover the trip generation, traffic congestion, change in mode split, and other transportation impacts likely to result from the greater density and mix of land uses in support of government planning for transit-oriented development, urban villages, and other land development configurations characterized as Smart Growth. In a recent case for a neighborhood association in Seattle we showed that TOD upzoning created a likelihood of increased vehicle traffic in proportion to the planned increase in population and in commercial uses.

Contact:

To ask questions or begin to explore how Expert Witness Services from Integrated Transport Research, Inc. can assist your community, call or write:

Dick Nelson, Principal
Integrated Transport Research, Inc.
112 North 50th Street
Seattle, Washington 98107
1-206-781-0915
action@globaltelematics.com
Fax 208-730-2420

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