Green TOD: Concept, Framework, and the Empirical Case Study of Austin, TX

Green TOD is a concept derived from marrying TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) to Green Urbanism. TOD promotes compact development aligning with transit stations and has been widely practiced around the world as an alternative to urban sprawl. The conventional TOD practice, however, may result in poor green performance associated with the promoted development patterns. Increased density and land use mixture as TOD has prescribed may help reduce energy use, waste production, and carbon emissions regionwide. Concentration of people, jobs, and activities (including traffic) on the other hand may led to increased intensity of and exposure to emissions and pollutions locally in TOD districts and corridors. The Green Urbanism practice can potentially help address the conventional TOD’s green inadequacies. Nevertheless, Green TOD has not been widely recognized and adopted, especially in the US. Lack of Green TOD’s recognition and adoption can be attributed to three factors. First, the concept of Green TOD remains to be further clarified and substantiated going beyond simple juxtaposition of TOD and Green Urbanism terms and attributes. Second, there is lack of operational framework and metrics for Green TOD practice and performance assessment. Third, there are insufficient empirical knowledge and data needed for calibrating Green TOD parameters and performance assessment benchmarks. The proposed project aims to achieve three objectives corresponding to the above described three factors that contribute to limited Green TOD recognition and adoption in the existing research and practice. They include: (1) Clarify and substantiate Green TOD concept; (2) Develop an operational framework of and metrics for Green TOD; and (3) Test empirically Green TOD performance through Austin, Texas case study.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $123565
• Contract Numbers:

  DOT 69A3552348325

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Center for Climate-Smart Transportation

  615 N Wolfe St
  Baltimore, Maryland  United States  21205
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Climate-Smart Transportation

  615 N Wolfe St
  Baltimore, Maryland  United States  21205
• Project Managers:

  Kline, Robin

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas at Austin

  Austin, TX  United States  78712
• Principal Investigators:

  Zhang, Ming

• Start Date: 20231001
• Expected Completion Date: 20240930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Environmental impacts; Metrics (Quantitative assessment); Sustainable development; Transit oriented development
• Geographic Terms: Austin (Texas)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01911599
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Climate-Smart Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348325
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Mar 11 2024 9:38PM