On Monday, the Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) released "TOD 203: Transit Corridors and TOD," the latest in CTOD's ongoing series of best practices guidebooks.

"This guidebook illustrates how planning at the corridor scale can help transit investments capture the benefits of TOD," said Sam Zimbabwe, CTOD's director. "Corridor planning can engage stakeholders, lead to more cost effective planning processes, and identify where along a new or existing transit line that the real estate market will be most active.”

Filled with real-world transit-oriented development lessons, the guidebook explains how corridor planning can facilitate not only successful transportation outcomes but also successful transit-oriented development.

"Corridor planning is a critical step toward making wise investments in transit that will spur economic development, reduce congestion and help connect people with work, school, shopping, health care, and other vital services," said Therese McMillan, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, the agency that funded the development of the guidebook. "Having a list of clear objectives and relevant examples at hand makes that critical planning step all the easier.”

The guidebook defines three corridor types —destination connector, commuter and district circulator — and identifies the different implications for TOD associated with each type of transit corridor.

Putting the theory to work, the guidebook identifies six objectives for transit and TOD at the corridor level from “Guide growth and development” to “Promote reinvestment and increase spending power” and pairs those with strategies to reach the objectives.

The guidebook also contains numerous on-the-ground examples.