Published on: June 21, 2022

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

Why in news? 

Andhra Pradesh is set to take up transit oriented development (TOD), a form of compact, pedestrian and non-motorised vehicle (NMV) friendly development that promotes mixed land use along the mass transit corridors in the urban areas.

Aim:

  • It aims at promoting use of public transport and developing areas alongside transit corridors

Highlights:

  • The Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development has issued the ‘Andhra Pradesh Transit Oriented Development Policy, 2022’, based on the Union government’s National Transit Oriented Development Policy, with the objective of ensuring transit-supportive land uses, densification and mixed-income development around transit stations and corridors, connectivity and managing vehicular traffic and parking, creating pedestrian and NMV-oriented design, and densification of local road network, among others

What is this policy?

  • The TOD policy is a growth strategy to assist the cities in implementing the guiding principles of the land use element.
  • As per the strategy, new moderate and high-density housing as well as new public uses, and a majority of neighbourhood serving retail and commercial uses will be concentrated in mixed-use developments located at strategic points alongside the transit system.

The need for this policy:

  • The policy is needed to increase ridership in the public transport system and make it a feasible mode of transport.
  • There is an urgent need to address the issue of urban transport by the way of new urban planning and development philosophy of land use and transport integration, improving access of citizens to enhanced public transport facilities and financing the extension of urban infrastructure and public transport projects through land development.

Guiding tool

  • The policy will be the guiding tool for all urban development and planning taken by the urban local bodies, government agencies, enforcement agencies, and transit agencies hereafter for the preparation or revision of development plans (DPs) under the municipal corporations, municipalities, nagar panchayats, and gram panchayats covered in Urban Development Authorities.
  • Meanwhile, the urban local bodies in the State have been asked to come up with action plans in a month to implement the TOD policy to improve the situation around major roads in the cities and towns.
  • Also, under the TOD concept, fewer parking spaces will be provided and users will be charged heftily in order to discourage them from using private motorised vehicles.

National Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy

  • It enables people to live within walking or cycling distance from transit corridors like the Metros, Monorail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, currently being taken up on a large scale.
  • TOD promotes integration of land use planning with transportation and infrastructure development to avoid long distance travel in cities through compact development as against the present pattern of unplanned and haphazard urban growth.
  • TOD Policy also aims at inclusive development by ensuring mixed neighbourhood development in the form of a range of housing choices including affordable housing and ensuring spaces for street vendors.
  • TOD increases the accessibility of the transit stations by creating pedestrian and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) friendly infrastructure that benefits large number of people, thereby increasing the ridership of the transit facility and improving the economic and financial viability of the system.

The vision of the policy is threefold:

  • Enable Transformation: to assist in transformation of cities from private vehicle dependent city to public transport oriented development,
  • Accessible Public Transport: to promote the usage of public transport by making it accessible, encourage green mobility by encouraging people to walk and cycle and at the same time curb pollution and other negative impacts of motorization.
  • Compact Walkable Communities: to create livable and affordable communities, which are compact and walkable.