Transit-oriented development can only happen with supportive City land use and economic policies. Planning policies and zoning regulations must permit the types of structures and open spaces that form a transit village. Economic policy must phase development around stations so that new housing and commercial space can be gradually absorbed into the local housing and employment market over a period of ten to twenty years. Specific Area Plans and Design Guidelines and Standards. Specific Area Plans for transit stations can tailor land use, density, development standards, and design guidelines in order to suit a specific station area and its surrounding neighborhood.
Public amenities can make the station area more attractive for development over time.
Improvements may include street and sidewalk improvements, street lighting, street furniture, transit shelters, information kiosks and landscaping. Transit operators or local jurisdictions can work with private developers to create transit-supportive development. The role of the public partner can be minimal, holding a ground lease, or it can be more significant, directly subsidizing the project. The intent of this report is to examine these factors in more detail at selected TOD sites throughout North America. In selecting stations to be analyzed in the case studies, stations were chosen that resemble the types of potential LINK station sites in Seattle.