Light Rail as the Catalyst for Ottawa’s Transit-Oriented Development: Planning for Sustainable Growth

The City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is the nation’s capital city as well as its fourth largest city with a population of nearly 1 million. It is a carefully planned municipality with a strong federal government presence and influence leading to a high quality of life. Ottawa has a broad socioeconomic and age profile, and a continuous demand for high quality municipal services, including public transit. In response to this situation, transportation and mobility was identified as a strategic priority within Ottawa’s 2011–2014 Term of Council priorities and the ensuing City Strategic Plan. This priority formalizes the expectation to provide reliable and sustainable public transit service while also providing an appropriate land use mix in and around transit stations. This paper should be considered as a road map of plans, policies, and steps taken to support Ottawa’s commitment to becoming a leader in Canada’s transit-oriented development (TOD) efforts. It demonstrates Ottawa Light Rail Transit’s (OLRT) role in providing for the city’s growing transit needs through efforts to support and implement modal shift and advancing TOD principles. An overview of the ongoing amendments to planning-related documents in support of the OLRT project will be given. Finally, a high level review of current and proposed land use planning initiatives will be discussed to illustrate how existing and future TODs are influenced by transit choices.

• Record URL:
  • https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/22467
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00978515
• Authors:
  • Gratton, Dennis
  • Watson, Leanne
  • Guevremont, Lise
  • Eljaji, Hassan
• Conference:
  • 12th National Light Rail Conference
  • Location: Salt Lake City Utah
  • Date: 2012-11-11 to 2012-11-13
• Publication Date: 2013-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 279-295
• Monograph Title: Sustaining the Metropolis: Light Rail Transit and Streetcars for Super Cities
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Circular
  • Issue Number: E-C177
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0097-8515

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; City planning; Land use planning; Light rail transit; Sustainable development; Transit oriented development; Urban transportation policy
• Geographic Terms: Ottawa (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01514791
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 20 2014 10:19AM