Public transit decreases need for parking spaces
October 18, 2007
In 2006, the Regional Transit Alliance noted an opportunity to directly benefit area developers arising from the success of the MAX Bus Rapid Transit system. Since commencement of operations, ridership in the MAX corridor has increased by 40 percent or roughly 1,500 riders per day. Viewed from a development perspective that’s 1,500 parking spaces that are no longer needed. Under the leadership of RTA board members Dave Lovetere of MC Lioness Realty; Kite Singleton, architect and Daniel Serda of the Kansas City Design Center; we proposed to Kansas City Plans and Zoning that parking ratios around transit stops be reduced. The suggestion was accepted and is to be included in proposed changes in the zoning code.
Although this change may seem like a small one, it should nevertheless be of significant benefit to developers of smaller projects and to retail entrepreneurs.
The Regional Transit Alliance believes that in order to realize the maximum benefit from transit development, the community needs to proactively exploit the economic dynamic between transit and real estate development. Transit successes provide an opportunity to reconfigure the built environment in ways that benefit further transit development as well as the development community.
In a recent article in the October 12-18 edition of the “Kansas City Business Journal”, the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance was highlighted regarding the relationship between public transit positive land use. We hope that you will visit
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ to read the article titled "Train of thought: Businesses have varying opinions on effects of light rail."
Additional information about the relation between transit and real estate development can also be found on the RTA Web site under “National Publications”