PlanItMetro

Regional Activity Centers in the core jurisdictions served by high-quality Metro service. Click the image for a full regional map.

Of the 120 COG regional activity centers in the Metro Compact Jurisdictions, 81 are now or will soon be served by high quality Metro transit, either Metrorail or the Metrobus Priority Corridor Network (PCN). That means that two-thirds of these activity centers are primed to support transit-oriented developments. The map above illustrates the activity centers in the core jurisdictions and their level of transit service. Click the image  for a full regional map.

Some jurisdictions have placed a greater emphasis on high-quality transit service when deciding upon areas to designate as regional activity centers.  The chart below shows the total number of activity centers per jurisdiction and the percentage served by Metrorail and/or the PCN.  The core jurisdictions (the District, Arlington and Alexandria) each have over 80% of their activity centers served by high-quality Metro transit.  The beltway jurisdictions (Montgomery, Prince George’s and Fairfax counties) have between 48% and 70% of their activity centers served.   Loudoun County, soon to be added to the compact with two activity centers receiving Metrorail service when the Metrorail to Dulles Phase II comes online, has the lowest percentage of activity centers served by Metro.

The relationship between regional activity and high-quality transit is no accident.  Economic activity gravitates towards areas of greater accessibility, including Metrorail station areas and commercial corridors — once streetcar routes — currently served by Metrobus. However, transit service can also be extended to areas of economic activity which developed due to good highway accessibility, such as Tysons Corner.

As the local jurisdictions continue to focus population and employment growth into these areas, Metro and other regional transit operators are working to connect them to the regional core and to one another through high-quality transit.  It is clear from the current levels of highway congestion that Metropolitan Washington needs more high-quality Metro service (bus and rail) in order to support the growth anticipated over the next 25 years.

One goal of Momentum, Metro’s strategic planning process, is increasing regional mobility and connecting communities.

About the COG Activity Centers

The activity centers list, recently updated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), describes where the local jurisdictions plan to focus household and job growth in order to support regional goals of transit-friendly development patterns and sustainability. This updated list includes 120 activity centers within the Metro Compact Jurisdictions (including Loudoun County) and additional 19 within the COG planning area not served by Metro, including Charles, Frederick and Prince William Counties, and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

A real-time transit information screen at Java Shack in Arlington, developed by Eric Fidler:Image courtesy of GreaterGreaterWashington.org

This is just a quick note to acknowledge what would hopefully be a trend in future transit-oriented development in the region.  According to the Washington City Paper article, Douglas Development wants an exception from a zoning code-required parking minimum for a new apartment building being planned for Tenleytown.  The generous community benefits package includes, among other things, ” installing a digital display with real-time bus and train schedules and information about nearby bike- and car-share stations.”

This is a great innovation that hopefully will be repeated in restaurants, cafes, bars, as well as new office and residential developments around the region.  The Washington area is rich with transportation options, and it’s exciting to see that third parties are engaged in helping promote alternatives to single-occupant vehicle travel.

The real-time transit information screen in the image above was developed by Eric Fidler, who blogs about transportation issues at Left for LeDroit.

Metro is excited to welcome Shyam Kannan to the position of Managing Director of the Office of Planning.  He offers the following statement to the online planning community.

Shyam Kannan speaking at the Capitol Riverfront BID's Annual Meeting. Photo credit: Tony DeFilippo Photography

After a decade consulting for real estate developers and public agencies alike, I learned the following:transportation drives development – always has, always will. The economic competitiveness of the Washington, D.C. region – especially in a rapidly-evolving global marketplace for talent and investment – is inextricably linked to the quality and appeal of its transit system. Furthermore, there is a window of opportunity right now as Metro continues to restore its aging system to a state of good repair to ensure that the right plans and visions are in place to guide the system – and the region – towards continued prosperity, vibrancy, inclusivity, and health for decades to come.

I look forward to working with Metro, the rider community, and our public leaders to bring forward-thinking and strategic solutions to the many challenges that the system faces and will face over the coming years. Admittedly, I’m a data hound, planning geek, transit aficionado – but I’m also a real estate economist, steward of public process, collaborator, and problem solver. Working to connect the dots and ensure that we have sound ideas that are not only beneficial to the region and sit on firm financial foundations, but also have measurable returns on investment is critically important to this office’s agenda, and we are wiring it into the DNA of everything we do.

Metro’s early experience with promoting TOD took place at below-ground rail stations in established urban settings that did not require the provision of transit access facilities beyond connections from sidewalks to the stations below. More recently, WMATA’s opportunities to develop its land to support TOD have been predominantly in suburban rail stations that include extensive parking lots, bus bays, and facilities for taxis, bicycles, customer pick-up and drop-off, and ADA patrons.

The default agency policy in recent years has been to replace existing facilities with a like amount and kind of facilities on a reduced footprint, and to emphasize transit operational functionality over urban design issues.  For example, this approach has tended to favor placing parking structures and bus bays adjacent to the station in lieu of pedestrian facilities, public spaces and mixed-use development.  However, public feedback has prompted WMATA to reassess the appropriateness of this default approach, and there is a need for new thinking about how future patrons should arrive at suburban stations; how transit operations should function in TOD contexts; and how to better meet local development policy objectives.

Development plan for Twinbrook Metrorail station. Click the image for more information.

Over the past five years, WMATA has made a number of significant policy and program changes to recognize the changing development environment at suburban rail stations. For example, in 2008 WMATA adopted a new set of real estate development guidelines (1.91 MB PDF), and the first real estate projects implementing those guidelines were initiated in the summer and fall of 2010. While the evolution of WMATA’s planning and land development practice is underway, it is far from complete. WMATA’s most recently-launched TOD projects confront the agency with the immediate challenge of replacing first-generation, auto-oriented transit access facilities with a new generation of facilities that supports transit access, transit operations, and TOD.

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