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There are a number of funding sources and planning resources available for towns that are interested in creating a transit-friendly development. Below is a list of where help is available.
New Jersey Transit
http://www.njtransit.com/
Planning For Transit-Friendly Land Use
New Jersey Transit is actively promoting transit-friendly planning near its stations and is eager to assist municipalities interested in stimulating such development. Ultimately, development authority rests with the municipality, but NJ Transit has prepared a guidebook, Planning for Transit-Friendly Land Use, which describes the essential elements of transit-friendly development and elaborates on the planning and zoning changes that must be enacted in order for transit-friendly development to take place. In the last 2 or 3 years, there has been a new wave of interest in the publication, including among developers. For a copy of the guidebook, call Donna Gearghty at 973-491-7814.
NJ Transit is currently working on a more concise version of the handbook for mayors and planning board members whose time constraints preclude them from reading the full version. They are also developing a concept for a quarterly newsletter, which would highlight examples of transit-friendly development currently happening around the state.
NJ Transit provides staff assistance to municipalities interested in exploring transit-friendly development. For more information, contact Ken Snapp at 973-491-7817.
Transit-Friendly Communities
New Jersey Transit administers the "Transit-Friendly Communities" program, a demonstration program sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot Program (TCSP), at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tcsp. The purpose of the project is to investigate and document the steps involved in adapting a municipality's master plan and supporting zoning ordinances so as to encourage station-area development that integrates the transit facility into its surroundings and fosters greater use of the facility. TCSP's hope is that the Transit-Friendly Communities program will continue beyond the conclusion of its involvement.
Eleven municipalities hosting transit facilities were recruited to participate in the pilot program. The three products anticipated out of the study are (1) a summary of the 11 case studies, (2) a set of 11 individual reports, essentially consisting of the station-area plans and ordinances, and (3) a how-to guide (for the transit agency, not the municipalities) based on TCSP's experiences - what went right, what went wrong, and recommendations for NJ Transit (or other transit agencies) to undertake similar work on its own in the future. These documents will eventually be posted on NJT's web site; for now, contact Ken Snapp (973-491-7817) for copies.
One notable result to emerge from the study is the importance of getting the business community involved and committed to the vision of the future of the transit station area. Successful transit-friendly planning depends at least in part on an effort to generate transit-oriented economic development.
New Jersey Transit envisions recruiting and working with new municipalities on its own, based on the TCSP's recommendations that evolved out of the current pilot project. The program would assist municipalities in updating their master plans and zoning ordinances to foster transit use and transit-supportive development in the station area. Contact Ken Snapp at NJ Transit (973-491-7817) for more information.
Transit Villages
New Jersey Transit is a partner in the State Department of Transportation's "Transit Villages" program, in the next section [link].
New Jersey Department of Transportation
http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/index.htm
Transit Villages
The New Jersey Department of Transportation, along with a number of other agencies including NJ Transit, has jointly undertaken this program, launched in March 1999. The program is only for municipalities that already have an existing passenger rail or bus facility. The Transit Village initiative is aimed at municipalities that have already prepared a master plan or a redevelopment ordinance for the area around their transit facility (by working with NJ Transit in the Transit-Friendly Communities program, for example) and is meant to help them realize the full development potential of their station-area plan.
As described by DOT:
Transit Villages can benefit virtually everyone in a community - especially commuters, residents, and business people. Through the Transit Village initiative, municipalities can take advantage of opportunities for economic development partnerships with a number of state agencies. These benefits can lead to revitalization of areas surrounding a passenger rail or bus facility and ultimately add up to a better quality of life for residents.Agencies participating in the program and giving priority treatment to Transit Villages are NJDOT, NJ Transit, the Department of Community Affairs, the Office of State Planning, the Economic Development Authority, the Commerce and Economic Growth Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, the NJ Redevelopment Authority, and the Council on the Arts.
Five municipalities were selected as the participants in the pilot project:
- Morristown [link to case study]
- Rutherford
- South Amboy
- South Orange [link to case study]
- Pleasantville (the only municipality using a bus depot as its transit centerpiece)
To view the press release announcing the Transit Villages program, go to http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/framed/press/press_releases1999/j990304.htm.
Office of State Planning
http://www.state.nj.us/osp/osphome.htm
The Office of State Planning does not have a publication that explicitly addresses transit-friendly planning; however, the desirable design features that characterize good transit-friendly planning are extensively detailed in their publication, Designing New Jersey. This is a guidebook on how to design compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use communities, of which transit-oriented development is a special case. It includes sections on circulation, form, and structure, blocks, streets, public spaces, "green" (land) and "blue" (water) infrastructure, parking, streetscapes, building location and design, and diversity of uses. To download a copy or order online, go to http://www.state.nj.us/osp/doc/dnj/designnj.htm.
Model Ordinances & Master Plan Elements
New Jersey Transit's 1994 publication Planning for Transit-Friendly Land Use contains, in Chapter 7, a sample master plan element for a station area. It consists of an assessment of existing conditions in the station area, a statement of goals, a development strategy, a land use plan, a design plan, a circulation and parking plan, and implementation measures. The publication's appendices also contain model zoning ordinance language for the station area, model site plan approval ordinance language, and model redevelopment plan ordinance language.
The American Planning Association has a publication called Creating Transit-Supportive Land Use Regulations [link] that compiles regulatory language from a wide variety of sources across the country, all dealing with some aspect of transit-oriented development. The code excerpts are organized into 4 subject matter areas: site design; parking; mixed-use development; and density requirements and incentives. Each piece of code is followed by a citation indicating the town, county, or other entity that originated the language.