TRANSIT VILLAGES AND TRANSIT-BASED DEVELOPMENT: THE RULES ARE BECOMING MORE FLEXIBLE - HOW GOVERNMENT CAN WORK WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Joint public/private participation in transit-based development, including the transit village concept has assumed new importance in recent years as developers, architects, and government transportation and city planners have recognized the positive economic, community, and ridership benefits which can be derived from development in close proximity to transit. Planners are heralding transit-based development as a critical tool or component in the drive to reduce sprawl, air pollution and congestion, provide increased mobility, create affordable housing, and to improve livability in communities located proximate to transit. In support of those concepts, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has launched the Livable Communities Initiative providing financial and planning support for linking land use and transit, and has modified other regulations to provide local agencies with increased flexibility in carrying out public/private development. This article discusses some of the recent developments in the law of transit-based development, the implementation tools available to the public and private sectors, some examples of use of those tools in projects familiar to the authors, and the steps which must be taken by both the public and private sectors to achieve successful developments on broader scale than has currently been undertaken.