Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has adopted characteristics of rail systems to deliver a highquality transport service in a cost-effective way. Many cities across the globe have recently adopted BRT schemes as a promising strategy for relieving traffic problems. However, as a relatively new form of Mass Transit, the ability of BRT to provide a high quality transport service and its potential to stimulate land development remain largely unexplored. Following a review of international literature on the current issues relating to the land development impact of BRT, the thesis provides empirical-based evidence that examines the performance and effects of ITS-led BRT in Beijing, China. The study makes use of qualitative (interviews with stakeholders) and quantitative analysis (the questionnaire survey of passengers and longitudinal analysis of property price data) to investigate the impact of Beijing Southern BRT Line 1 on public transport service quality and land development along its corridor. The study clearly illustrates that the BRT system is an innovative approach of providing a high-quality transport service, comparable to a rail service but at a relatively low cost and short implementation time. The research suggests that a high-quality BRT system can offer accessibility advantage (specifically travel time savings) to adjacent properties and increase their attractiveness. The statistical analysis suggests improved accessibility conferred by BRT is capitalized into higher real-estate prices. The capitalization effect mostly occurs after the full operation of BRT, and is more evident over time and particularly observed in a place which lacks the alternative mobility opportunity offered by a Mass Transit system.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / The design of a transit-oriented development (TOD) is a major concern with regards to its functionality and prospects for success. The Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, home of two professional sports venues, has a unique location on a proposed transit corridor, the Rock Island. This corridor is planned to run between downtown Kansas City and suburban Lee's Summit. Therefore, the Truman Sports Complex site is a natural choice for a TOD. Building a TOD at the Truman Sports Complex will create a focal point on the Rock Island Corridor that connects Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums to downtown Kansas City and Lee's Summit via a regional transit system; bring together a diverse population through the creation of a walkable, mixed-use center located adjacent to the regionally known cultural institutions; and encourage new development around the junction of Interstates 70 and 435, a major transportation node in Kansas City, Missouri. This study, focusing on the design of such a project on this specific site, employs an extensive site analysis informing conceptual and specific planning ideas. It draws from a large body of literature and precedents, incorporating well established elements and principles into a new development that is both unprecedented in the Kansas City region and unique among TODs and sports-related districts. The main findings reveal the desirability of a strategy to develop on the existing parking surface of the Truman Sports Complex and reroute the Rock Island Corridor through the middle of the site so that it passes between the two stadiums. The final plan incorporates a mixed-use program, with retail, entertainment, offices, and apartments, into a variety of building types, including garden apartment buildings, low- to mid-rise mixed-use buildings, and high-rise towers, placed throughout the site in a compact, walkable grid pattern of streets. The significance of this project is that it can inform the Mid-America Regional Council, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, and other relevant stakeholders about the potential for developing on this site, and it demonstrates that a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, large-scale transit-oriented development with a wide variety of program is both viable and desirable at the Truman Sports Complex.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) are an unprecedented typology in the Kansas City region, which predominately exhibits automobile-oriented development characteristics. The Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, home of two professional sports venues, has a unique location on a proposed transit corridor, the Rock Island, planned to run between downtown Kansas City and suburban Lee's Summit. Therefore, the site is a natural choice for a TOD. Building a TOD at the Truman Sports Complex will create a focal point on the Rock Island Corridor that connects Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums to downtown Kansas City and Lee's Summit via a regional transit system; bring together a diverse population through the creation of a walkable, mixed-use center located adjacent to the regionally known cultural institutions; and encourage new development around the junction of Interstates 70 and 435, a major transportation node in Kansas City, Missouri. This study employs extensive regional, market, and transportation analyses to inform specific planning and programming ideas. It draws from a large body of literature and precedents, incorporating well established elements and principles into a new development that is unique among TODs and sports-related districts. The project’s findings reveal that retail, multi-family housing, and office development at the Truman Sports Complex, supported by rail transit and strong tenants, would fill a void in regional business and population density close to downtown, and have the potential to be economically viable as a regional center through 2040. This research has also shown that in order to achieve the adequate density for pedestrian vitality on the site, high-rise development with limited single-family options is necessary. And perhaps the most important finding is that the rail line should be rerouted through the center of the site if Transit-Oriented Development at the Truman Sports Complex is pursued, in order to maximize the pedestrian-accessibility of land suitable to development and ensure that activity is concentrated around the stadiums. Overall, the significance of this project is that it can inform the Mid-America Regional Council, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, and other relevant stakeholders about the potential for developing on this site, and it demonstrates that a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, large-scale transit-oriented development with a wide variety of program is both viable and desirable at the Truman Sports Complex.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / Our CBDs are developing continuously and urban sprawl is growing at a rapid rate. Without sufficient upgrades to infrastructure and public transport networks, how long will it take before the struggle of everyday commuting becomes near impossible and transport costs become too high for most South Africans? Simply moving back to the Cities and CBDs is not an option for the majority of our population because as these areas become denser, the price of property and rentals increase. We need a solution for our current situation, to regain the control of the road networks in and around these areas. The aim of this thesis is to propose an alternative, hybridised transport system. To reduce the reliance on privately owned, single passenger motor vehicles by encouraging the use of public, semiprivate and non-motorised forms of transport in order to alleviate traffic congestion from major CBDs, aid in social cohesion and promote a healthier lifestyle by making use of bicycles. The Sandton CBD will be the area of focus affected by the study with the site located on the fringe, at the intersection of William Nicol Drive and Republic Road. The proposal introduces a system which would couple onto existing urban design framework proposals as well as transport networks such as, the Rea Vaya (BRT), Gautrain (Train and Bus networks) and the privately owned mini-bus taxi and bus industry. Adjacent to the site is the Braamfontein Spruit cycle path which will aid in the process of gathering and promoting an interest in cycling as a means of everyday transport. The building put forward in this thesis will act as a knuckle and point of convergence where people will be able to utilise different means of transport. It will also serve as a new social and active lifestyle hub comprising of a gym (connected to a research centre), social and recreational spaces, retail facilities, transport information offices, mass parking and accommodation. / GR2017

The Gold Line Foothill Extension represents an unprecedented light rail expansion into the San Gabriel Valley from downtown Los Angeles. In examining its potential for success, transit-oriented development (TOD) appears to be an integral factor and a major opportunity to redraw growth patterns along the corridor. TOD opportunities and challenges are investigated throughout the Foothill Extension, and three towns in particular, Claremont, Monrovia, and Irwindale, are examined on the basis of their varying levels of TOD planning. The corridor features many infill sites with potential for high density development near new Gold Line stations, but implementation of some TOD sites should be delayed until improvements in the economy can create appropriate short-term demand for office and retail space.

Since the appearance of steam engines in the late 18th century, cities have been growing with the development of transportation and the consequent increase of its urban population and economic activities. Presently, cities accommodate more than half of the world population and are expected to be responsible for 73% of the world’s energy use in 2030. Cities come to the fore as a problem, being also the roots of solution for current environment and energy-related problems. The Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems applied in Latin American cities have shown the possibility of establishing efficient urban transport networks and sustainable urban structures at low cost. Meanwhile, Asian cities are anticipated to accommodate 54% of the world urban population by 2050. Sejong city, South Korea is the newest planned city in the region aiming to see its completion in 2030. The aim of this paper is to assess the future urban sustainability of Sejong city by analyzing first the Master Plan of the construction of the city in accordance with PEBOSCA (Physical, Economical, Biological, Organizational, Social, Cultural, and Aesthetical) resources, and second its implementation in general with a focus on the expected role of Transit-Oriented Development in particular looking at BRT. Putrajaya’s case is referred for anticipated shortcomings which Sejong should be prepared for. Secondary data and interpretations from books and articles regarding contemporary urban problems are comprehensively reviewed to systemically analyze the influences of implementation of TOD upon urban sustainability. This study revealed that planned actions derived from TOD will play an important role in resolving urban problems in Sejong city by relieving urban traffic congestion, CO2 emission and fossil fuel consumption. And systemic influences on improvement of business activities, government tax income, social activities and equity, and olfactory quality of the city are expected. Therefore, TOD is deemed to be a better option for existing cities and is necessary for newly developing planned cities in Asia and Africa.

This study posits that there may be a systematic bias in measuring the transit’s endogenous impact on land values in a built up area due to discrimination by location in the city. Studies of transit value-added effect report mixed results about the capitalization of station proximity. The question is not whether a transit station influences nearby land values, but how and where location determines the impacts. Examining 731 office rentals and land values in Seoul, this study finds that value premium over better accessibility to a station decays with increasing distance from the central business district (CBD) and significantly depends on the development density of the station area. Overall, station benefits seem to exist in Seoul, but they look more notable in centers with higher centrality. This makes a hierarchy of regression coefficients for station proximity by location, i.e. the beta in the CBD is the highest and those in the subcenters are next, while that in other areas is the lowest. Study findings imply that the potential of more compact and denser developments within station areas seems higher in a dense inner city, providing evidence for the concept of ‘compact city.’ Questions concerning model specification in the hedonic approach are raised: in research sampled heavily from the suburbs, the coefficient may be underestimated where this benefit actually exists. Also, due to the incongruence of station area with station value-added area, using a dummy variable seems intrinsically risky. This study shows that estimation with spatial models outperforms OLS estimation in the presence of spatial autocorrelation. Also, there is a strong spatial autocorrelation even in the SAR residuals where the omission of key variables still influences the estimation. Overall, spatial lag and error term variables greatly improve the fitness of regression equations; however, the latter seemed more useful than the former in this study. One thing to note is that the latter seems more sensitive to the choice of weight matrix than the lag variable. There may exist a unique weight scheme proper for the data structure which cannot be known in advance.

Based on a national survey of State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), it was determined that such agencies are engaged in a variety of activities to address sustainability issues associated with transportation planning, design, and operations. However, state DOTs in general do not have sufficient policies or practices in place to evaluate and prioritize investment options that will promote sustainable development. For this research, a mixed-methods research design employing an expert panel and case studies of individual State DOTs was used to develop, test, and evaluate the value of a strategic planning tool that can help DOTs evolve more sustainable practices and be used to monitor progress over time. A self-assessment tool was designed to guides agencies through (1) identifying internal strengths and weaknesses (or gaps) in their planning frameworks and organizational structure and culture, (2) characterizing features of the external environment as opportunities or threats, (3) prioritizing areas for strategy development, and (4) developing strategies that link the internal and external environments. The tool was tested by seven state DOTs who completed the assessment and provided feedback on the content, format, and process. Based on evaluation of the assessment responses and feedback received from these state agencies, recommendations are made for improving the tool and for future applications. The main contribution of this research is a methodology for transportation agencies to develop or refine their organizational frameworks to be more oriented toward sustainability, which could lead to transportation infrastructure investments that can be better maintained and operated over their service life, reduce environmental impacts and fossil fuel dependence, promote economic development, and meet the needs of growing and changing populations more effectively.

Thesis (M.S./M.C.R.P.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on Jan. 11, 2010. Major professor: Dr. Cornelius Nuworsoo. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees [of] Master of Science in Engineering/Master of City and Regional Planning (Transportation Planning Specialization)." Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-196).

Thesis (M.E.S.)--The Evergreen State College, 2009. / Title from title screen (viewed 2/25/2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-107).