Transit Oriented Development

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is the promotion of easily accessible, mixed-use, and vibrant areas through development that encourages sustainable growth. This means optimising the use of space and public transport so it allows communities to be able carry out daily activities without a reliance on private cars.

TOD is a strategy that requires the alignment and committal of multiple policies and stakeholders over an on-going period. Measures that contribute to the implementation of TOD include: creating pedestrian-centric urban design; high-quality public transport; appropriate zoning reforms; and community engagement.

Video introducing and explaining the concept of TOD.

Currently, New Zealand suffers from a reliance on private cars. According to the 2023-2024 Household Travel Survey commissioned by Ministry of Transport, 83% of all trips were by car. Further, in the main cities, on average 60.6% of all car trips were under 5km. This shows a great potential for TOD to be implemented in New Zealand.

Benefits

TOD has an array of diverse benefits as outlined by the TOD Institute:

(i) Increased Quality of Life: Implementation of TOD reduces commuting times, encourages physical activity and increases community interaction. This is all through increasing public transport and walking accessibility of work, retail, and leisure activities.

(ii) Environmental Friendliness: Roughly 70% of all transport emissions in NZ come from cars. Reducing the reliance on cars through TOD, not only reduces emissions but also allows for spaces previously dominated by cars to be used to improve urban biodiversity. Greater quantities of land, resources, and energy is required to service car orientated development than TOD.

(iii) Efficient Land Use: Execution of TOD requires mixed-use high density redevelopment. This limits the requirement for sprawling greenfield development. A reduction in the need for cars also allows space previously used for parking/driving to be used for other purposes.

(iv) Public Amenity Values: TOD is pedestrian and public transport-centric approach to urban planning. Such an approach prioritizes exceptional urban design, convenience, public spaces, and well-integrated public transport.

Video further highlighting the benefits of TOD.

Case Studies: Rosslyn-Ballston and Panmure

The Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor in Virginia, USA highlights a widely successful and mature example of TOD. The 1960s in Arlington County saw massive growth, and county planners saw this as a chance to “reimagine our communities, reduce our dependence on cars and revitalize struggling retail and business areas”. This involved creating a new metro line with high-density development within one-quarter-mile of each station, and ensuring development caters for mixed-use purposes. The neighbourhoods surrounding the five metro stations each developed and enhanced their distinct characteristics to create what the county called ‘Urban Villages’.

This proved to be a great success for Arlington County, both then and now. The Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor saw a 107 percent increase in population in the quarter-mile radius of the stations between 1990 and 2000. Currently, there is almost 50,000 residential units and 42 million square feet of retail and office space in this area.

The zonings of the Rosslyn-Ballston Corrider. Source: Smart growth presentation.

Image of the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. Source: Arlington, Virginia.

New Zealand does not provide any case studies that are as well integrated and as successful as Arlington County.  However, Panmure, Auckland has potential to successfully implement TOD via the Panmure Masterplan. This sees the town centre shift from a current low density area with around 300 houses, to a high density area with over 2000 houses. Further, there are aims to make Panmure a, ‘high quality urban neighbourhood’, through mixed use redevelopment, a central bus and train interchange, and enhancing walking and cycling infrastructure. A key consideration of the Master Plan is considering the distance people would have to travel to access to services and amenities. This is an instrumental aspect of TOD as reasonably accessible amenities reduces the reliance on cars.

The criteria of the Panmure Master plan. Source: Panmure Master Plan

Panmure's 5-10 year plan. Source: Panmure Master Plan.

The buildings within both these areas greatly reduce their environmental footprints. Road vehicles were responsible for 12% of global emissions in 2023, and employee commuting can be responsible from 5% to 15% of the emissions from the operations of a building. Through the decrease in cars required for commuting under TOD, buildings can greatly improve their environmental sustainability.

These case studies highlight that successful TOD requires macro level long-term planning, committal, and collaborative efforts. Individual buildings cannot achieve TOD without the necessary infrastructure and urban planning in place. However, buildings can incorporate many aspects of TOD to increase their sustainability.

TOD and the Incubator

In relation to the proposed office-industrial sustainability incubator, TOD is an appropriate sustainable construction method to reduce the environmental impact of the building. This is for the following reasons:

(i) Promotion of Sustainable Commuting: The incubator could discourage car use through having minimal carparking, and encourage other commuting options by having integrated bike storage, and being located in close proximity to bus/train lines.

(ii) Pedestrian and Community Friendly Design: This could involve having public spaces built into the building, having a community engagement plan, and designing the exterior of the building to be pedestrian-centric rather than car-centric.

(iii) Value for Tenants: SMEs/startups working in the sustainable construction space would find immense value by operating within a building using TOD. Such a building would also attract high-level tenants.

(iv) Future proofing and a Sustainability Catalyst: Building the incubator with TOD in mind will position the incubator in a suitable position to adapt to future public transport developments. The incubator could also act as a catalyst for other TOD, both locally and nationally.

That being said, there are important challenges to consider when building the incubator, if TOD is in mind. TOD becomes redundant if the zoning does not allow for high-density mixed-use development. It would be integral that the incubator be built in an area with such zoning or proposed zoning standards in order for TOD to be fully utilized. The incubator would also need to be built in an area with sufficient public transport infrastructure and access. Otherwise, employees would face no other option but to revert back to using cars for commuting. Lastly, the employees within the building would need to fully embrace and understand TOD, for if the employees are not educated on TOD or have an aversion to it – TOD will not be successful.

There is great utility to be found by grounding the proposed incubator in TOD principles for limiting the environmental impact of the building. The incubator could set the precedent for further sustainable development and shine a light on the benefits of TOD. Although, the challenges as discussed above, would need to be appropriately dealt with for TOD to fulfil its true potential.

Below are two groups that could provide more information about incorporating TOD into the incubator.

JASMAX: A urban design and Architecture firm with a focus on providing for sustainable communities. They have strong portfolio of public transport and community-centric projects.

Eke Panuku Development Auckland: Council organisation focused on delivering urban regeneration and intensification.