It seems like the MTA is finally taking transit-oriented development (TOD) seriously. The agency announced that it “is developing a region-wide TOD program to support local communities throughout the MTA service territory,” and has added a description of this program to its website, which includes a single point of contact for communities interested in TOD projects. These are all promising steps towards a broad smart growth agenda outlined in the interim report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA. The commission was created by MTA Executive Director Lee Sander in September 2007.

For years Tri-State has advocated for the MTA to spearhead a “transit village” program offering planning assistance to municipalities interested in TOD (see, for example, MTR # 542). The interim report calls on the MTA to do just that, recommending that the agency “develop a system-wide Transit-Oriented Development program” and describing the agency’s progress: “the MTA and New York State are establishing a partnership and package of incentives to support TOD development throughout the service area. The partnership will develop a branded TOD program.” In New Jersey, NJ Transit and NJDOT’s Transit Village Program has been very successful in encouraging transit-oriented development (pictured above is planned TOD in Cranford, a designated Transit Village).

The report also recommends that the MTA work with shareholders to capture two-thirds of all new trips in its region and concentrate two-thirds of the region’s new residential and commercial growth within a half-mile of MTA service by 2030. Other recommendations are for the agency to be more proactive in creating intermodal connections and providing bicycle and pedestrian access to its stations.

Encouraging transit-oriented development makes perfect sense for transit agencies, as it has been conclusively proven that TOD boosts transit ridership — which brings benefits of its own. Both the Sustainability Commission report and a recent report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group underscored transit’s impact on lowering energy consumption. The Sustainability Commission report noted that, largely because of transit use, the energy footprint of the average New Yorker is about a quarter as large as the average American’s. The USPIRG report found that the New York metropolitan transit system, by its existence, saved 1.8 billion gallons of oil in 2006 (worth $4.6 billion).