FTA Awards $6.2MM in TOD Grants
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Arizona’s Phoenix Public Transit Department will receive $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for transit-oriented development (TOD) planning at three stations of the proposed 1.6-mile Northwest Extension Phase II Light Rail project (station rendering above).
Nine projects—seven rail-specific—will share $6.2 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants through the Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning.
The funding will help “communities examine ways to improve economic development and multimodal connectivity, and encourages mixed-use development near transit stations,” FTA reported Dec. 15.
The selected projects are:
• Arizona’s Phoenix Public Transit Department, $1 million for TOD planning at three stations of the proposed 1.6-mile Northwest Extension Phase II Light Rail project.
• California’s San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), $350,000 for TOD planning at nine existing rapid transit stations along the Green and Orange lines from Fruitvale south to Warm Springs/South Fremont.
• Florida’s Jacksonville Transportation Authority, $877,068 for TOD planning at four stations of the initial phase of the proposed 38.4-mile First Coast commuter rail project.
• Florida’s Miami-Dade County, $900,000 for TOD planning at four stations of the proposed Beach Corridor Bay Crossing Trunkline for Metromover service to Miami Beach, and at six stations of the proposed Metromover extension to NW 41st Street.
• North Carolina’s Chapel Hill Transit Department, $592,500 for TOD planning at 16 stations of the proposed 8.2-mile North-South bus rapid transit (BRT) project.
• North Carolina Department of Transportation, $900,000 for TOD planning at 13 stations of the proposed 37-mile Triangle North-South commuter rail service that would run along the North Carolina Railroad Corridor between Garner and West Durham, increasing connections to downtown Raleigh.
• Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), $360,000 for TOD planning at five stations of the proposed 4-mile King of Prussia rail extension of the Norristown High Speed Line.
• Texas’ Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, $900,000 for TOD planning at 13 stations of the proposed Blue and Orange line light rail projects in the 12-mile North Lamar/Guadalupe/Riverside Corridor in Austin.
• City of Madison, Wis., $290,000 for TOD planning at stations along the proposed 15.5-mile East-West BRT project that will run through Madison’s downtown and the University of Wisconsin campus areas.
“We are proud to support local transit agencies as they plan for TOD that better connects residents to jobs, education and essential services,” FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams said. “This funding will encourage economic development and capture the value transit brings to communities as they respond to and recover from the public health emergency.”
The TOD pilot program was launched under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012 and amended by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in 2015. It is authorized through fiscal year 2020, and has been extended one year by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act.
