NEW YORK | City and State struggle to increase residential development

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

There are certainly cases where park'n'rides offered parking structures and in fact there are large and expensive parking garages such as the many on the GO network. The parking doesn't necessarily take up all the space near the station so some could still be used for TOD. But that displaces other uses from that space with acts as a disincentive for using transit. When done well, TOD at rail stations offers the residents or workers at the TOD convenient, car-free access, to where ever the rail line goes which for commuter rail is usually a major downtown. But having the station act as a bus hub for feeder buses also means the hub is well connected to the local area. This means that locals can access the amenities at the hub without a car since the routes already go there to feed the station, and it gives residents at the hub car-free access to the surrounding community. In terms of over-used corporate buzz words, it forms a type of synergy.

But adding commuter parking facilities undermines both. The station is less of a bus hub since it's so easy to drive and therefore the local transit at the hub isn't good enough for TOD residents to be fully car-free. Plus there's congestion that affects any pedestrians or transit users accessing the station. Sure TOD residents can get downtown without a car, but not around the local community if the local transit connections are weak. So they likely take transit downtown to work and use their car for everything else.

So ultimately both sides are correct. Yes, you can combine TOD with park'n'rides, and no, it doesn't lead to very good TOD.

there just isn’t much going on out on long island development-wise, so there is no real call for dense lirr parking lot development around the stations.

but that doesnt mean mta is unfamilar with denser tod develoments. just look at stamford or yonkers. hell, it was desolate lot parking around the immediate yonkers station, now its all waterfront apt bldgs. its helps when the station is right downtown like that or on the high street, but not always, ie., even a perpetually popular and seasonally busy beachy town like long beach isnt very developed around the lirr station as it could be, much less the direct commuter parking there.