TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager
SUBJECT: Board Policy 522 Update
ACTION ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider approving a full amendment of Board Policy 522 and retitle the policy as "Policy for Transit-Oriented Development and Transit-Supportive Land Use."
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
Increasing the amount of transit-oriented housing and workplaces will make it possible for AC Transit to provide more effective and efficient service.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
This action has no immediate budgetary or fiscal impact. In the medium term, stronger participation in transit-oriented planning could lead to more ridership and better fiscal outcomes for the District.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
AC Transit has had a longstanding interest in supporting transit-oriented development. The Board first passed Board Policy 520 "Policy Encouraging the Promotion of Public Transit in Land Use Developments within AC Transit's Service Area" in 1994. That was before the term "transit- oriented development" (TOD) was in use and before many transit agencies were focusing on TOD. AC Transit supported this type of development even though it does not own significant developable land as some transit agencies do.
Yet, it was already clear that housing in certain locations--such as Downtown Oakland, Downtown Berkeley, and Downtown Hayward-would encourage transit ridership. Certain physical designs and layouts of buildings and housing complexes are also more supportive of transit use. However, in some cases, cities have focused TOD efforts solely around BART stations and not at bus hubs.
While AC Transit seeks to bring transit to residents and workers, it can also be effective to work with developers and cities to bring residents and workers to transit. This can make AC Transit's service more efficient. In the decades since the original policy, TOD has been planne...
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