Transit and Small Urban Sprawl

Small urban sprawl has resulted in new housing developments and business centers that have never been served by transit. Unfortunately, transit agencies are often not included in the land development process within small urban communities. The objectives of this study were to determine what steps small urban transit providers are currently taking to integrate transit service into sprawling communities, and to determine what can be done to improve relationships with local governments during the land development planning process. Many transit agencies indicated that they are involved in land-use planning within their metro area while others had specific communication methods to follow. Methods included meetings, planning activities, and personal networks, among others. However, there were also many small urban communities who indicated they were not involved in land-use planning and had no communication with local city planners. Involvement was found to vary widely from one community to the next. Transit agency representatives felt the best way to integrate transit within new developments was to be present during the development planning process. However, only four of 13 questionnaire respondents indicated they felt sufficient demand existed for fixed-route transit within their new developments. This indicates that even though they might have been involved in planning, new developments are often built at such low densities that implementing new service there would not be feasible. Also, other agencies indicated in both the questionnaire and case studies that even if sufficient demand existed for service, the finances are not available to extend service beyond its current structure.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=632
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

  North Dakota State University
  1320 Albrecht Boulevard
  Fargo, ND  United States  581052
• Authors:
  • Peterson, Del
  • 0000-0002-2010-5542
• Publication Date: 2009-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Bibliography; Figures; Maps; Tables;
• Pagination: 49p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Case studies; Demand; Financing; Land use planning; Local government; Public transit; Questionnaires; Real estate development; Small cities; Transit operating agencies; Urban sprawl
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01152668
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 17 2010 10:43AM