Regional Plan Association’s research, advocacy, and demonstration projects have been working towards orienting the region’s development around an enhanced transit network for decades – achieving Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) throughout the tri-state region before the economic, environmental, and social benefits of TOD were widely recognized.

While the region’s highway system is one of the most lasting impacts of the 1929 Regional Plan for New York and Its Environs, these recommendations were made alongside proposals for a Suburban Rapid Transit system, open spaces recommendations to protect the region’s most sensitive landscapes and keep locations farthest from transit infrastructure free from development, and a robust set of “city beautiful” and waterfront access plans to ensure a high quality of life in New York City - at the core of the region’s transit system - long into the future. The seminal work of the 1960s, Urban Design Manhattan, outlined opportunities for high density development in the metropolitan core and strategies to directly integrate the built environment with the transit system. The fundamental tenet of A Region at Risk, the Third Regional Plan, was channeling growth that did not need to be located in Manhattan to those areas in the outer boroughs and outside of New York City that have significant transit access and high quality service. The vision identified eleven regional centers such as Stamford, CT and Newark, NJ that could accommodate intense residential and commercial development with limited impact on our region’s environment and transportation system.

Contemporary efforts at RPA address the challenges and opportunities of transit-oriented development in the region’s urban and town centers with existing and potential service through a combination of research, elected official training, and on-the-ground interaction with communities across the tri-state area through robust participatory process based on community design workshops. These workshops are interactive planning and design sessions which bring together community stakeholders and professional facilitators to identify collaborative solutions to community challenges which meet the needs of the broadest spectrum of citizens.

TOD Literature Review (PDF 425K)

The Tri-State Metropolitan Region has the most robust transit system in the western hemisphere. Over a century of investment in commuter rail, subways, light rail, and bus have resulted in a system which links the major population and job centers of the region and has enabled the continued economic growth of Manhattan and a series of regional centers while relieving pressure off the highway system. As volatile gas prices over the past year have demonstrated that, coupled with increasing concern about the implications of climate change, transportation alternatives are key to sustainably maintaining the region’s economic competitiveness and quality of life. Since its inception, RPA has been working with the city and suburban communities to demonstrate the advantages of compact, mixed-use development within walking distance of these transit assets as the foundation for regional growth. Examples of these projects in New York City, the regional centers, and suburban locations can be found in this section.

So much attention has been given to transit-oriented development in suburban towns and small cities, that we must remind ourselves that development designed in accordance with the city’s subway and bus system is still the paramount form of transit-oriented development. With 468 subway stations and 243 bus lines, the city’s transit system has the most frequent and robust service in the region and development taking place within walking distance of its stations and stops can be some of the most sustainable and vibrant in the region. The pending construction of East Side Access, Access to the Region’s Core, and the Second Avenue Subway will reinforce the primacy of transit access in New York City and RPA has worked with neighborhoods in several boroughs to identify strategies to enable intensification without overburdening any single neighborhood or socio-economic group.

Case Studies

The strategies outlined in the third regional plan, A Region At Risk, were designed to transform the Tri-State Region into a true polycentric metropolitan area with a thriving core in Manhattan ringed by regional centers. Those eleven centers occur at prime spots within the regional rail network resulting in frequent and high quality service, are distributed throughout the region with distinct and overlapping support zones, and have the physical capacity and political will to accommodate the majority of our economic and population growth in the coming decades. RPA has targeted these locations to demonstrate the ability for transit-oriented development to transform urban landscapes and mold these former industrial and often struggling city centers into centers of renaissance for vibrant downtown living and employment.

Case Studies

While the vitality of the regional centers is integral to the success of the region, these primary downtowns are supported by many suburban towns, villages, and hamlet with rail and bus service. RPA has worked with smaller communities throughout the region to identify those transit-oriented development strategies which are appropriate in scale, fiscally positive, and community-building. Development strategies have resulted which enable these communities to grow and prosper in the 21st Century with limited impact on the local environment or neighborhood character.

Building a Transit Friendly Community Report (PDF, 16MB)
TOD in NJ Performance Report (PDF 1.3MB)

Case Studies

Throughout the region, communities and state agencies are looking for opportunities to increase transit service in the face of volatile energy costs and climate change. New busways, reactivated rail corridors, and new stations along existing lines all require proactive planning to ensure that local station area land uses and regional contexts reinforce these services and capitalize on these potential investments to ensure high returns through increased ridership and placemaking and each destination. Yet there is a delicate balance between enabling transit-supportive development around the future service and community-building intensification that limits local impacts before the transit service is in place. RPA has worked with state agencies, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and municipalities to craft strategies that will capitalize on future service without being wholly dependent on that service’s initiation.

Case Studies

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