Potential Sites for Transit-Oriented Development in San Diego
Katie LemmonUP 206 A
Final ProjectMarch 14, 2011
Policy Question
Where should SANDAG and the City of San Diego work together to prioritize transit-
oriented development and what tools will help these agencies collaborate?
TOD Overview
• Successful transit-oriented development (TOD) needs:– high density of people– access to transit and
amenities– inhabitants who will
actually take transit or non-car modes
Goal
• Identify areas with a high potential for successful TOD within ¼ mile of bus rapid transit and express bus stops and routes (existing and proposed)
• Create tool for inter-agency collaboration and data sharing
Bus rapid transit is one proposed solution to combat region-wide mobility issues in San Diego
Photo credit: Denis Desmond, MTS
Methodology– Identify express bus routes and stops in San Diego– Rank census tracts based on TOD demographics:
• Population density – weighted 1 because it’s an important component of TOD
• Workers who commute using alternatives to cars – weighted 2 because it is more important than density
• Workers with no vehicles – weighted 2 because indicates transit need and is as
– Within identified census tracts, create ¼ buffer around existing express bus stops and proposed rapid route
– Identify redevelopment areas, if any– Identify online tools for collaboration
Ranking based on:• Population density• Alternative mode
commuters • Workers with no
vehiclesSelected Top 5 Highest Ranked Tracts
4 TOD tracts are within City’s redevelopment area
1 TOD tract is not in redevelopment area and will not be considered for further study
Proposed Rapid Transit
• SANDAG’s proposed Mid-City Rapid line– BRT route– One segment of an
integrated regional network
– Will connect to existing express route along I-15
Proposed Rapid Transit: Original Data
• Metadata for Mid-City Rapid proposed route
• Shapefile created by drawing bus route and stops
• Based on image from www.keepsandiegomoving.com (SANDAG project website)
*Note: ¼ mile buffer around proposed route not just proposed stops because feeder routes stop and connect along proposed route
Combination of two buffers:1. ¼ mile buffer
around proposed route and
2. ¼ mile buffer around existing express bus stops
Google Mash Up: Real World Collaboration Tool
Steps:1. Create model to convert
files to KMZ2. Research for-sale parcels
online as of 3/14/113. Geocode for-sale parcels4. Write html5. Display layers on Google
map6. SANDAG and the City can
share maps
Google Mash-Up: For Sale Properties Near Priority Parcels
http://www.katielemmon.bol.ucla.edu/googlemashup/html
Skills
• Aggregating attribute fields -- combined alternative means to work fields into one field
• Inset map -- locating City of San Diego• Attribute sub-set selection – selected express bus
routes and stops from dataset of all transit modes• Created index – selected and weighted three variables
to create index of high-potential tracts for TOD• Buffering – ¼ mile radius around express bus stops• Geoprocessing – intersect tool to show areas within
census tracts that are ¼ mile from express bus stops
Skills continued
• Modeling – conversion tool to convert multiple layers to KMZ files
• Metadata – created for original data• Original Data – created line shapefile for proposed bus
route, created point shapefile for proposed bus stops• Measurement/Analysis – buffer, intersect, union and dissolve
tools to identify solution to policy question• Google Mash-Up – wrote html file to include proposed route
layer, priority area layer, geocoded for-sale properties• Seven Layers – layout of ¼ mile buffers around existing stops
and proposed route has seven layers
Sources
• SANDAG• SanGIS• UCLA MapShare• ESRI-TIGER• American Community Survey• US Census• Bing maps• Google maps