Put housing and transit together
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Put housing and transit together |
July 25, 2005
SF Examiner
Editorial
Transportation usually ranks high among the concerns of Bay Area residents, with long commutes and crowded roads some of the biggest complaints. Housing price and availability play a big part in this situation, with high prices driving residents out of city centers and toward the edges of the Bay Area—or out of the region altogether. Even those commuters who opt to take mass transit such as BART often find that they have to drive to get to the nearest station.
Building housing so far away from transit that people have to drive to get there? What kind of planning is that? Not the right kind, says a multicounty transportation agency, which wants to encourage the development of housing close to new transit stations.
Recognizing that putting people and transit together makes for easier commutes, less frustration on the roads and a greater ability to accommodate the growth that seems inevitable for the Bay Area, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is scheduled to vote on a policy Wednesday that would put its money behind this commonsense principle. If adopted by the transportation agency, the policy would require communities receiving money from the MTC for new transit development to also adopt local planning guidelines to allow a higher concentration of homes within half a mile of new stations. This means that expanded systems would be more viable, with potential users situated within walking distance, and housing would be more attractive with transit nearby. The amount of housing called for in the policy varies with the type of transit. BART stations would need the most nearby housing, and ferry terminals the least.
In addition to making good planning sense, having a ready stock of riders nearby makes it easier to obtain more federal funding to build transit expansions.
This is a bold move for the MTC, advancing the agency beyond simply financing and coordination and into real planning leadership. The Bay Area has long needed to coordinate housing and transportation, and the proposed policy would help do that. The proposal has attracted the support of groups such as the Bay Area Council and the Transportation and Land Use Coalition.
When this policy was first introduced, some cities and towns worried that they would have to cede control over development. Now, most understand that they would not give up their authority over individual projects. Even though the MTC would help local communities with the planning needed, they would still be responsible for how to put the policy into action. And while the housing levels called for by the MTC would put more housing near stations—about 2,200 units within half a mile of a commuter rail line, for instance—it wouldn't require density like that of downtown San Francisco. In fact, transit construction planned for San Francisco already meets the MTC's goals, as do most projects planned for the Peninsula. Elsewhere, the planning this policy encourages would help communities absorb future growth without resorting to sprawl.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission meets Wednesday to vote on its transit-oriented development policy. This policy would be a strong measure to encourage smart development of housing in concert with transit. The MTC should adopt it.