This thesis examines the opportunities and constraints facing the implementation of
Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD consists of concentrated, mixed use
development within walking distance of a commercial core and a transit stop that provide
the focal point for the community and connect the resident to the region. Despite the fact
that many planners accept TOD as a useful form of development, TOD has experienced
barriers to its implementation. Neither the barriers to implementation, nor the
opportunities for overcoming them have been sufficiently researched. This case study of
land use planning at the four east Vancouver station areas of Joyce, 29th Avenue,
Nanaimo and Broadway of the 'Expo' Advanced Light Rapid Transit (ALRT) line, known
locally as 'SkyTrain', addresses this deficiency. Planning literature, planning documents,
interviews with seven Vancouver planners, zoning and land use maps, and a land use
survey provided the data from which conclusions were drawn.
The research suggests that the major barriers to TOD implementation along the
Vancouver 'Expo' line were poor transit routing, difficulties in assembling large parcels
of land, lack of coordination between public entities, separated regional land use and
transportation planning, inadequate political commitment to design and mitigation
measures, the setting of goals for the station areas that are not TOD goals and the
intrusive nature ALRT due to its elevated guideway. Many of these barriers correspond
with those identified by the TOD literature as existing in other cities, but significant
barriers that were identified in the case study but not by the literature include the
intrusive nature of the ALRT technology due to its elevated guideway, the decision
making process that had the province make decisions (e.g. the type of rapid transit
technology to be used) without local input, and the absence of sustained implementation.
Opportunities for overcoming barriers to TOD include creating more participatory
decision making processes that ensure decisions that affect local communities are made at
the municipal and regional, rather than provincial, level, the creation of a directly elected
agency responsible for both land use and transportation planning, increased coordination
between public agencies, and the creation of TOD guidelines.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11887 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Walter, Mary Evelyn Trueblood |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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