Getting public transportation integrated into the local land development review process

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1 Transit Oriented Development on a Small-town Scale Getting public transportation integrated into the local land development review process Hugh Mose General Manager Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA)

2 Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) Service characteristics: Eight small municipalities plus Penn State Service area pop. of less than 90, full-sized buses (all CNG powered) Over 6.0 million annual passengers

3 Our goal: To have a community in which transit remains a viable alternative by: Ensuring that new developments are laid out in a way that works for transit Devoting the resources necessary to have an impact on local decision-making Building and maintaining the relationships necessary for that to happen

4 What we do: Commit about 0.25 FTE of staff time to the Site Plan Review process Share a Transit Planner with our MPO, which also handles municipal development review Request transit accommodations in every large-scale residential and commercial development

5 Why we do it: Barriers will be there forever: lack of sidewalks light-duty pavements misplaced bus pull-outs cul-de-sacs instead of through streets The development that gets built today is going to be with us for 50 years!

6 How we ve made it work: We don t have any ordinances We do have strong local political support Local developers learned long ago if they don t do right by transit their project will get held up, or they ll pay in other ways at the very least, transit accommodations are part of the cost of doing business Out-of-town developers hire local firms They pass the word

7 What you need to do: Develop a transit-supportive culture Sell transit as a critical component Develop community stakeholders Be persistent Establish expectations Commit the staff time Request to review site plan submittals Provide comments; make requests This takes years!

8 Who to cultivate: Property owners/developers could be looking for traffic mitigating strategies may even be transit advocates! Local government officials municipal staffs Planning Commission members elected officials Community groups transit advocates bicyclists, walkers seniors, disabled

9 What to be prepared for: Not common Commercial buildings sited adjacent to the roadway, convenient to transit More common buildings set back on the property, behind a sea of parking, reachable with a bus only by going off-street Most common developers who don t want anything to do with transit

10 What to ask for: A good pedestrian access network Work towards a complete network of direct, accessible and lighted pedestrian pathways between buildings on the site to the site from adjacent sites to/from the bus stop or pull-out Remember: every bus rider is a pedestrian the moment they step off the bus!

11 What to ask for (cont.): Location, location, location Chose your bus stop location carefully balance passenger convenience / operating efficiency try for centrally located stops avoid conflicts with cars integrate with planned open space / parks consider public roadway vs. private drive plan for future service

12 What to ask for (cont.): Integrate transit amenities Require the developer to incorporate and build amenities as part of initial construction No different than roads, street lights and traffic signals Take advantage of what may already be planned parks, green spaces, community areas may already include amenities that will enhance a bus stop Offer to take over ownership responsibility for shelters and benches relieve property owner of cost of maintenance can be moved and replaced easier

13 Get pedestrian access first

14 Avoid conflicts with cars

15 Go for centrally located stops

16 Get close but not too close

17 Integrate with planned open space Parks, green spaces, community areas may already include amenities that will enhance a bus stop

18 Be willing to compromise

19 What we ve learned: Be reasonable in your requests Be consistent but persistent Be prepared to follow-up Expect to attend lots of meetings Win some / lose some then move on Build on your successes Don t get discouraged it takes time

20 Thank you! Hugh A. Mose General Manager Centre Area Transportation Authority State College, PA (814) , extension 130

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