Equitable Transportation Tools
All five of the following tools are hosted by the Center for Neighborhood Technology.
AllTransit’s Metrics and Maps & Analysis
Users can search by location for data from over 800 transit agencies on more than 500,000 stop locations and 15,000 routes. The database provides information on jobs, the economy, health care, transit equity, transit quality, and mobility in many small, rural areas in addition to larger metro areas. The database also provides mapping features and graphs comparing the searched location with neighboring areas, census regions, and legislative districts. See http://alltransit.cnt.org/metrics/.
The National Transit-Oriented Development Database
The database provides demographic and economic information on medium to large cities “at three geographic levels: the transit zone (the half-mile or quarter-mile buffer around the individual station), the transit shed (the aggregate of transit zones), and lastly, the transit region (aligns with the metropolitan statistical area boundary).” It uses aggregated public data and includes existing and planned transit routes, stops, and stations. See http://www.cnt.org/tools/tod-database.
The Housing and Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index
The index provides information on the cost of transportation and housing in metropolitan areas and micropolitan areas covering 94 percent of the United States population. Given its geographic coverage, this index is useful for practitioners in small, medium, and large cities. See http://www.cnt.org/tools/housing-and-transportation-affordability-index.
Total Driving Costs
The tool calculates total costs of car ownership, maintenance, and gasoline expenses at the city, township, or borough level, making it valuable for practitioners in cities of any size and in rural areas. The tool includes regional and national benchmark figures to contextualize local metrics. See http://www.cnt.org/tools/total-driving-costs.
eTOD Social Impact Calculator
The calculator provides information for predevelopment planning and the projected impact of potential affordable housing in Cook County, IL. Despite being limited to Cook County, the calculator is a useful tool as a proxy or example of the potential impact of equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD). The data are at the parcel level and include metrics on labor markets, transportation, and the environmental impact of potential housing. See http://www.cnt.org/tools/etod-social-impact-calculator.
Equitable Transportation Publications
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.’s “Equitable Transit-Oriented Development” is a brief policy overview with links to additional resources for practitioners considering ETOD projects. This overview defines ETOD, describes the impact of ETOD, explains the reasoning behind ETOD, and details Enterprise’s work in funding, building capacity, and offering technical assistance for ETOD projects. See http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/solutions-and-innovation/equitable-transit-oriented-development.
Reconnecting America’s “Mixed-Income Housing Near Transit” details the benefits of mixed-income neighborhoods and strategies for transit-oriented development (TOD) in these neighborhoods. This booklet concisely describes the dynamic relationship between affordable housing and transit. See http://reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/091030ra201mixedhousefinal.pdf.
The Transit Center’s “All Transportation Is Local: A Field Guide for City Leaders” provides actionable advice and evidence about best practices from research and case studies. This guide touches on strategies for effective governance, partnerships, infrastructure utilization, and economic growth policies. See http://transitcenter.org/publications/atil/.
The Shared-Use Mobility Center’s “Reference Guide” offers brief and detailed definitions of shared-use transportation services, which broadly encompass bikesharing, carsharing, “smart” shuttles, and carpooling, among others. It reports on benefits to communities, opportunities and challenges for local governments, and equity and policy considerations. See http://sharedusemobilitycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/SharedUseMobility_ReferenceGuide_09.25.2015.pdf.
Melinda Pollack and Brian Prater’s “Filling the Financing Gap for Equitable Transit-Oriented Development” details and explains existing financing tools for ETOD by examining regional examples from Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The paper points out opportunities to fill funding gaps and suggests potential policy solutions and sources of capital. Despite the focus on these larger cities and regions, the paper identifies partnerships and strategies that small and midsize cities can adapt or adopt. See http://www.liifund.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/TOD-Report-03-26-13-FINAL.pdf.
The Center for Transit-Oriented Development’s “CDFIs and Transit-Oriented Development” describes the state of interest and investment from community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in TOD. The report lays out the common ground between CDFIs and TOD and presents opportunities and challenges. See http://ctod.org/portal/sites/default/files/201010_cdfi_transit_oriented_design.pdf.
Reconnecting America and the Community Transportation Association’s “Putting Transit to Work in Main Street America” reports on transit efforts in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. The paper contextualizes transit issues in smaller cities and rural areas and then details case studies on bus networks, circulator systems, intermodal transit centers, and intercity transit systems. See http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/resource-center/books-and-reports/2012/putting-transit-to-work-in-main-street-america-how-smaller-cities-and-rural-places-are-using-transit-and-mobility-investments-to-strengthen-their-economies-and-communities/.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia or the Federal Reserve System.