Measuring TOD around transit nodes: towards TOD policy

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) can stimulate sustainable development by improving the interaction between transit and the surrounding development. Planning for TOD around existing transit nodes can only be effective if the assessment of the base situation is done properly. To do so, we propose a methodology to quantitatively measure existing levels of TOD in terms of a TOD Index, within walkable distance of a transit node, by measuring various criteria that define TOD. The value of a TOD index indicates the level to which TOD supporting characteristics are inplace around a transit node and what may be required to be improved so as to attain better transit orientation of thedevelopment. With these results in hand, TOD planning proposals can become more accurate by targeting investments on the most relevant or critical factors. The methodology was applied to the city region of Arnhem and Nijmegen, The Netherlands. A TOD index was calculated for areas around the 21 train stations in the region. The results help in drawing TOD policy for the region by identifying which station areas need more attention than others and at the same time, for each station, identifying specific TOD characteristic(s) that need improvement.