Cleveland RTA Receives TOD Grant

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority will receive a grant as part of a federal $13.1 million Transit-Oriented Development Planning program.

RTA will use the $315,000 grant to develop its proposed Broadway Avenue Corridor project, a multi-modal planning project that will incorporate bus rapid transit with bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

The Federal Transit Administration, which announced the grants, said the grant to Cleveland RTA will increase bicycle and pedestrian access to transit hubs, recommend ways to incorporate green infrastructure, and analyze ways to revitalize commercial and housing opportunities near transit stations.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Public Transportation Authority of Philadelphia will receive a $300,000 grant for planning and analysis of Route 11 and 13 trolley services in the Darby and Yeadon boroughs in Delaware County.

The project will support trolley revitalization, study how best to develop the area, support pedestrian and bicycle access, and plan for ways to address flooding and electrical infrastructure issues.

The FTA awarded funding for 19 transit-oriented development projects nationwide, including 12 that were rail related.

An FTA news release said the TOD program seeks to enable “communities plan for opportunities created by new transit stations, such as affordable housing; economic development; and better connections to schools, hospitals, stores and restaurants,”

Projects “must examine ways to improve economic development and ridership potential, foster multimodal connectivity and accessibility, improve transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, engage the private sector, identify infrastructure needs, and enable mixed-use development near transit stations,” according to FTA officials.

The program was launched last May with most of the grant recipients saying they will use the funding to address homelessness within their planning proposals, FTA said..

PennDOT Seeking TOD Proposals for Keystone Corridor

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will seek proposals for transit-oriented development at one or more Amtrak stations on the carrier’s Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Locations to be considered include Harrisburg, Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, Lancaster, Parkesburg and Downingtown

A PennDOT news release said that transit-oriented development opportunities could involve soliciting a private partner to provide operation and maintenance services; allowing a private partner to provide parking upgrades either through surface lot expansion or with the construction of a parking garage; and if deemed feasible, the ability to provide both residential or commercial development.

One project has already been approved by the state for the station in Middletown.

PennDOT will review proposals to consider market soundness to determine whether to proceed on an individual station basis or whether to bundle more than one station into an agreement.

FTA Offering Transit Oriented Grants

The Federal Transition Administration is offering $20.5 million in competitive grants to support transit-oriented development projects.

Being provided by the agency’s Transit-Oriented Development Planning Pilot Program, the grants will be made for comprehensive planning in communities that are developing or implementing major new transportation projects.

Planning work must be associated with a transit project for which the community intends to seek funding through FTA’s Capital Investment Grant Program or that recently received funding through CIG.

“This funding opportunity will help communities plan development that creates jobs, encourages transit use, and gives residents convenient access to work, school, medical care, housing and other vital services,” said FTA Senior Adviser Carolyn Flowers. “Transit-oriented development helps ensure that the benefits of new transit lines extend throughout a community.”

The pilot program was created as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.