Study looks at the intersection of transit and land use planning

WILKES-BARRE — According to a recent study by The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development at Wilkes University, in Northeastern Pennsylvania, public transit has often taken a backseat to passenger cars in recent decades.

Ooms said according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, among Lackawanna County residents, only 0.6 percent of commuters used public transportation.

Among Luzerne County residents, only 1.1 percent traveled to work using public transportation. This figure is over five percent statewide.

According to a separate analysis of public data by FiveThirtyEight, the region had 6.9 public transit trips per capita in 2013. This was a lower total than many urban areas of similar size around the state, including Erie (18.2 trips), Reading (13.1), York (8.8), and Allentown (8.1).

Many communities around the United States have begun to view the dominance of auto transportation as a detriment towards achieving goals of sustainability and equity.

Ooms said the purpose of this report is to examine the practices, design schemes, and policy tools which municipalities can utilize to increase transportation options (including public transit) and thereby reduce inequity in transportation.

Various studies have found that the best way to increase public transit use is by having dense commercial spaces (or mixing commercial with dense residential), being strategically located near a main transit hub and being easily accessible for most people, including people with disabilities and the elderly.

“To achieve this type of development, municipalities can implement policies which can entice denser, mixed-used commercial and residential development” Ooms said. “Other physical attributes of the environment, such as sidewalks and bicycle infrastructure, also contribute to increasing transportation choices.”

Land use tools for

alternative transportation

According to Senior Analyst Andrew Chew AICP, municipalities in Pennsylvania can utilize tools such as zoning ordinances and subdivision and land development ordinances (SALDO) to further their land use goals. Transportation outcomes, including mode choice and public transit ridership, are closely intertwined with land use.

“The land use principles outlined here can be used by municipalities in order to support alternative transportation choices,” Chew said. “Zoning is a legal practice where parcels of land are designated for a specific use. In Pennsylvania, municipalities have primary responsibility for zoning.”

In addition to deciding what type of residency and/or commerce can be done in the designated zone, Chew said zoning also usually regulates the overall sizes of structures, and individual units in the structures. Zoning regulations have a profound impact on the built environment, and therefore impact transportation.

Density and mixed uses

In general, zoning schemes that encourage higher density and mixed uses better support alternative modes of transportation. Development density is an important consideration in planning for public transit, as sprawling or rural forms of development result in prohibitive cost barriers to transit, as potential riders and destinations are more spread out. Communities can use zoning to guide development, and in order to enhance transportation alternatives, can encourage denser development in already built-out areas and attempt to limit sprawl into undeveloped areas.

“One approach to land use planning that could be utilized to support alternative transportation is Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND),” Chew said. “TND is about balancing commercial and residential space in a way that reflects historical urban development patterns. The result is vibrant neighborhoods that have the variety, mixed uses, and sense of place reminiscent of older cities and towns that predate mass sub-urbanization. The increased density of both population and commerce (compared with typical suburban or rural communities) makes mass transit, walking, and biking more feasible.”

Form-based zoning

Chew said form-based codes are a different approach to zoning compared with traditional zoning schemes. Like traditional zoning, form-based zoning includes a map with designated areas to be regulated by certain standards, a description of standards and regulations, and administrative policies and procedures.

However, form-based codes are different in their approach to traditional zoning in that they regulate building type, mass, and placement without significant emphasis on different uses. Instead of segregating uses (such as commercial, light industry, and housing) into different districts, a form-based code might instead specify street typologies, minimum number of floors, minimum lot coverage or façade frontage, and set standards for street furniture, street trees, or on-street parking.

Cluster zoning

Cluster zoning is another approach to encourage denser communities and therefore expand transportation options. This approach is also called Planned Unit Development (PUD) or Flexible Zoning. Under this scheme, regulations within a zoning code would allow developers of multiple housing units to build more dense development (such as smaller lots, smaller setbacks, or multifamily units where they would not otherwise be allowed) in exchange for conserving open space within the development.

Parking

Historically, parking lots were ‘pay-to-park,’ small, and represented an insignificant share of urban land use because much of commercial life was still in the streets. But with the rise of automobile and sub-urbanization, parking increased in prominence.

Starting in the 1950s, developers began to construct shopping centers with ample free parking, beginning an ongoing suburban trend of devoting large amounts of space to paved parking lots.[xiii] Many modern retail centers provide a huge number of parking spaces to accommodate ‘Black Friday’ shoppers despite the fact that on a typical day many spaces are unutilized.[xiv] Further adding to an overabundance of parking in shopping centers is the increasing prevalence of online shopping which has reduced foot traffic of suburban shopping malls.

Additionally, many suburban retail centers are fragmented into unconnected strip malls, plazas, and standalone big box stores. Retail destinations are separated by busy roads and vast parking lots that are unsuitable for walking and biking and increase the burden of providing bus service.

Sidewalks

Studies show that having more sidewalks connecting commercial and residential properties “help[s] bring neighbors together, decrease(s) automobile dependency and lessen(s) air pollution.”[xviii] Sidewalks are also critical to maintaining connectivity and supporting walkability. Sidewalks also support bus transit by providing safe places to wait for a bus and a pathways for riders to walk to and from bus stops.

Local municipalities have significant leeway in developing sidewalk policies.[xix] Whether or not to require sidewalks in certain zones will greatly affect the character of neighborhoods. By requiring sidewalks in new developments, especially where the development is served by public transportation, municipalities can greatly promote transportation alternatives. However, it does add an additional burden to developers and may not be necessary for developments that are isolated from existing neighborhoods, public transit, or trails.

Finally, sidewalks are tied to better health outcomes. Sidewalks promote more walking which in turn improve public health. A healthier community is also economically stronger.

Encouraging transit

oriented development

TOD centers on the development, especially dense development, of commercial mixed-use space of the areas around a specific transit hub. TOD holds that “development that is built near a transit stop with the transit stop in mind in order to form a sense of place and social cohesion.”

This contrasts with transit-adjacent development, which is built near a transit hub but is not specifically oriented towards it.

One study finds that the “increase [in] densities around transit stations and stops… increase[s]” public transit use. Another study, which examined the implications of a 2008 California law, which requires the integration of land use and transportation planning, found two major points on public transit use:

1. Transit ridership is dependent on users’ proximity to transit, particularly workplace proximity.

2. Employment density is more closely associated with transit ridership than residential density

Financing approaches to TOD

An EPA study of TOD infrastructure financing identified seven broad categories of financial tools available to support TOD:[xxiv]

1. Direct fees, such as user and utility fees

2. Debt tools, including private debt and bond financing

3. Credit assistance, such as federal and state credit assistance and the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA)

4. Equity, including public-private partnerships and infrastructure investment funds

5. Value capture, including developer fees and exactions and tax increment financing

6. Grants and philanthropic sources, including federal and state grants and foundation grants and investments

7. Emerging tools, such as land banks

Tax incentives for development

Municipalities can also utilize their taxation policies to further their development goals. Millage taxes are collected by municipal governments, within limits set by the state. However, states and municipalities can allow exemptions which can greatly lower tax rates, such as farmland, homestead, newly built home, church, charitable exemptions. Tax exemptions, incentives, or abatements can be used for development too.

States and municipalities can tailor and package these types of tax incentives for developers who will invest in projects that can increase public transit use in their respective metro area.

Enhancing connectivity

Beyond ensuring that neighborhoods provide for transportation alternatives, it is also important to consider ways that communities can become better connected with one another and provide more opportunities for active transportation.

Economic development

Industrial and business parks have generally low density and poor connectivity to alternative transportation modes. Planning officials can use zoning and land development regulations to encourage infill development and increased connectivity. Economic development entities can also influence the design of developments.

Ensuring that public transportation adequately serves industrial and business parks supports both transportation and economic development goals.

Transportation is also a factor in location choice. Businesses are not only concerned about product movement and transportation, but how their workforce can get to work regularly, timely, and with little stress. A recent example of a successful business attraction is highlighted. Here, the transportation agency, the developer and the company worked together. This synergy led to Chewy.com locating in the region, but also opened the door to two other successful locations – Adidas and Patagonia.

Trails

Multi-modal trails, which can be used by pedestrians, cyclists, or equestrians, provide opportunities for active transportation as well as recreation. Trails can be most effective at providing transportation choices if connectivity with housing and employment centers and public transit corridors is also considered.

Parks & public spaces

Parks, plazas, and other public spaces represent an important part of the transportation network. Linear parks, which are parks that cover a relatively long and narrow footprint such as along a waterfront, can form a pedestrian and cyclist corridor that enhances connectivity between neighborhoods.

Conclusions/recommendations

There are several means that can be used to achieve increased residential and employment density, which better support transportation alternatives, and bus transit specifically:

• Zoning for increased density and/or mixed uses

• Alternative zoning approaches such as overlay zoning, cluster zoning, or form-based codes

• Requiring sidewalks in new developments, where appropriate

• Reconsidering parking requirements within zoning ordinances to lessen overbuilding of parking

• Encouraging transit oriented development, where appropriate

• Using trails, parks, and other public spaces to further enhance connectivity

For municipalities that wish to prioritize transportation alternatives, there are ways to easily put these principles into practice. For example, in the City of Scranton, the current zoning ordinance exempts the downtown district from minimum parking requirements; however, parking requirements exist for many uses in other zones. Communities such as Scranton could consider similarly exempting neighborhood commercial or mixed use zones from minimum parking requirements.

Several principles highlighted here are consistent with the Lackawanna-Luzerne Regional Plan and Long-Range Transportation Plan, which prioritizes compact development in the region’s urban core and connectivity between transportation modes.

Efforts are underway by the regional transit agencies to expand hours, routes and phone apps. The transit agencies have been working together for nearly two years to create regional routes.

Given the current state of transportation in the region, the following are recommended guiding principles for regional land use and transportation planning moving forward.

• It will take decades of long-term thinking and thoughtful planning in order to make measurable gains in transportation choice, congestion, safety, and air quality. It is also important that efforts to transport people work hand-in-hand with long-range planning for intermodal freight.

• Local governments should include transportation officials as part of the planning team when it comes to new development, rehabilitation of existing development, comprehensive planning and ordinance revisions. Encouraging collaboration in the planning phases will enhance both new development and transportation access. This year our counties achieved that goal in the development of the Bi County Comprehensive Plan and Long Range Transportation Plan currently under public review.

• Officials from county and municipal government should work in partnership with one another and with regional planning bodies to update Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances and Zoning Ordinances in accordance with the principles described in this report. Municipalities should also take a coordinated and common-sense approach to other regulations such as sidewalk requirements.

• Transportation considerations must also be a part of economic development planning: industrial and business parks have generally low density and poor connectivity to alternative transportation modes. Planning officials can use zoning and land development regulations to encourage infill. Industrial sites that are well-served by alternative transportation modes are likely to be an asset for attracting investment to the region.