Sustainable Transit as an Engine for Economic Growth

Harriet Tregoning, Director of Office of Economic Resilience, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development

Early Lessons on Sustainable Transit

• Support and enhance existing communities

• Preserve natural resources and farmland

• Save on the cost of new infrastructure

Goals of Smart Growth

Early Lessons on Sustainable Transit

Visualizations courtesy of Steve Price

www.urban-advantage.com

Vision of change

Early Lessons on Sustainable Transit

Image from original by Erik Henne

Engage leading local governments

Each of these is a zoning change

TODDistrict

High DensityDevelopment

Median forLight Rail

BelowGroundUtilities

BikeLanes

StreetTrees

Mixed-UseResidential and Commercial

Early Lessons on Sustainable Transit

Early Lessons on Sustainable Transit

“In just one generation—20 years—the District of Columbia will be the

healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States.” – Mayor Vincent C. Gray

Moving DC into the Future

1977: Metrorail opened

1991: Metrorail Green Line opened

2005: Public-private funded New York Avenue Metro Station opens

2005: DC Circulator Bus launched

FY2008: $8 million in street improvements

2009: DC’s first bike sharing station opened; 1st on East Coast

2010: Capital Bikeshare launched

2011: 11th Street Bridge reconstruction completed

2012: 1st segment of Anacostia Riverwalk Trail completed

2013: 6 million Capital Bikeshare trips completed; bike counts up nearly 20% from 2012

2013: Streetcar testing on H Street began, service to start Spring 2014

Multi-Modal Transportation: investments in quality of life

Moving DC into the Future

Jobs/ Quality of Life/AffordabilityFiscal benefits Real estate development

Expanding Choice

Moving DC into the Future

DC spends 11 percent on

transportationvs. 19 percent US

= discretionary income

81.6% of DC households are car-lite (<1 cars)

38% of DC households do not own any vehicles

46% of all trips by foot, bike or transit

54% of all commuting trips by foot, bike or transit

Savings add up to $4,000 to $16,000

per year

28% of region’s real estate value within ½ mile of Metrorail but only 4% of land area

84% of regional office space under construction

within ¼ mile of Metro station

1812 North Moore StRossyln Metro (VA)

(under construction)

Park 7Minnesota Ave Metro

(DC) (under construction)

Transit accessibility = Real estate value & competitiveness

Photos: NoMa BID

Transportation as a revitalization strategy: NoMa

Transportation as a revitalization strategy: H Street, NE

Sustainable Communities Initiative

Sustainable Communities Initiative

Regional Planning Grants

Community Challenge Planning

Grants

• In total, 1,500 applications over two years from every state in the nation

• 400 Congressional letters of support

• We have 74 Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grantees, and 69 Community Challenge grantees.

• SCI grants cover 119 million people in 48 states and the District of Columbia. – This represents 39% or two-

fifths of the US population.

Grantees Map

Transit Trends

• Americans want public transit– now more than ever• In 2013 Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation

– Highest annual ridership in 57 years! – Statistic courtesy of APTA

• In 2013, public transit rides rose by 1.1%, while miles driven increased 0.3%

SCI Grantees and Transportation

• Of our 143 Grantees, 86 are working on increasing transportation choice

• Transportation choice includes making transit available for bikes, pedestrians, having mutimodal transit options, and complete streets

• 70 Grantees are working on public transit– which includes bus, Bus Rapid Transit, light rail, and subway systems

City of Columbia Mall Frontage

Location Affordability Portal

• Housing and transportation go hand-in-hand

• Together, they make up almost half of the average household’s budget

• HUD and DOT’s new tool– the Location Affordability Index– measures the cost of housing while taking transportation into account

• It was even mentioned in a recent BusinessWeek article on income and housing

• www.locationaffordability.info

City of Boston, MA

• Awarded over $1.8 million in a HUD Community Planning Challenge Grant in 2012

• This helped fund the Fairmount Line Smart Growth Corridor Project, which facilitates mixed-use and transit-oriented development along the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line

• This project connects residents of neighborhoods along the line with downtown, job centers, and each other www.mtba.com

City of Providence, RI

• Awarded a $1.75 million HUD Community Planning Challenge Grant in 2011

• Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) is using this grant to improve 3 existing routes, and to create Rhode Island’s first rapid bus route, the R Line

• Through the TransART program, local artwork is displayed at bus shelters to enhance both beauty and community connectivity

www.ripta.com

Denver, CO

• Denver Regional Council of Governments received a $4.5 million Regional Planning Grant

• This helped to We specifically helped to support work around three rail lines: Gold, East, and Northwest Rail (Commuter Rail and US 36 BRT)

• This will result in access to job opportunities, lower combined transportation and housing costs, reduced consumption of fossil fuels, reduced strain on our air and water resources, and “urban centers” along transit lines

www.denverregionalequityatlas.org/

Metropolitan Transportation Commission: Oakland, CA

• Awarded over $4.99 million to develop a San Francisco Bay Area Regional Prosperity Plan for the Nine County San Francisco Bay Area Region

• The Plan preserves affordable housing in transit-served communities

• Its many goals include job creation through investment in regional infrastructure, and creation of jobs in and small businesses in transit-served job centers

www.mtc.ca.gov

Future Transit is:

Green

ReliableSafe Inclusive

FastAffordable

Smart Available