THE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT DRAMA AND ITS ACTORS. IN: THE NEW TRANSIT TOWN: BEST PRACTICES IN TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

In the late 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, transit and urban development were linked far more closely than they are today. Minimally, it was taken for granted that transit was needed to serve new development as cities grew, and in many cases developers actually took on the task of building transit lines to serve their projects. Today, transit-oriented development (TOD) involves many different actors with a much wider set of concerns. Transit agencies are responsible for building transit, often with the involvement of multiple public agencies. Local government is responsible for planning, facilitating, and shaping development while remaining accountable to constituents, and developers are responsible for generating returns for lenders and investors. All of these entities may have varying ideas about what a particular project should accomplish, and these ideas have grown more complex. In order to fulfil its potential, TOD needs to have the benefit of goals, resources, and policies that are dependably and accountably aligned around the task at hand. This chapter focuses on the complex and often contradictory roles played by various actors involved in TOD, and offers recommendations on how each actor can help reform the process and facilitate better projects.