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ULI Seattle’s Bus Rapid Transit and Land Use InitiativeDeveloping the Next Frontier

Denny OnslowChief Development Officer, Harbor Properties

Chair, ULI Seattle Sustainable Leadership Task Force

ULI Fall MeetingOctober 26, 2011

Part of the ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project

For more information contact: Kelly Mann, Executive Director, ULI Seattle, kelly.mann@uli.org

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Bus Rapid Transit: The Emerging Opportunity

Light rail plans get the attention BUT metro areas big and small are also planning and building BRT systems BRT can go from plan to reality in just a few years

Age of austerity – BRT plans more likely to get built Opportunity to integrate workforce housing and sustainability Rail TOD – lots of work has been done already BRT and land use? Lots of questions still to be answered

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Part of an ambitious vision for a regionally integrated transit system:

• Light Rail• Commuter Rail• Streetcars• Traditional and express buses• Arterial BRT

King County RapidRide:• A line service began in October 2010• B, C, D, E, and F lines will begin service by 2013• 64 total miles of service• High-use corridors: 10 million transit trips per year• Projected 50% ridership increase with RR

BRT in the Puget Sound Region

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ULI Seattle’s BRT and Land Use Initiative

Developing the Next Frontier

Capitalizing on Bus Rapid Transit to Build Community

2011

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Project Goals Integrate land use into BRT planning and implementation• Reduce vehicle miles traveled • Achieve triple bottom line: environment, economy, equity• Encourage communication and mutual learning between the land

use community and transit providers Build capacity and expertise Coordinate and integrate ULI Seattle’s priority areas and task forces• Housing Affordability Task Force• Sustainable Leadership Task Force• Thriving Communities Task Force

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Project Partners City of Seattle

Department of Planning and Development

Office of Housing City of Shoreline King County Metro

Transit ULI Seattle ULI/Curtis Regional

Infrastructure Project

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: 2011 Schedule of Activities

January Partners meeting: Conduct site tours Determine scope of analysis Develop site analysis questions

March ULI Seattle Breakfast ProgramSite analysis and recommendation development (2½ days)Presentation of recommendations to partners

June ULI Seattle BRT Workshop: report release and next steps

July Walking tour of one BRT corridor neighborhood

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Site Analysis TeamMark Hinshaw, LMN Architects

Richard Kendall, The Frause Group

Craig Krueger, Community Land Planning

Ann Lin, Seneca Real Estate Group

Jim Mueller, JC Mueller LLC

Salima “Sam” O’Connell, Dakota County - Office of Transit

Danny O’Connor, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority

Sarah Jo Peterson, ULI-the Urban Land Institute

Dan Stroh, City of Bellevue

Project partners and site analysis team on tour, March 22, 2011

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Study Methods

Three national case studies: Cedar Avenue BRT in Dakota County, MN Kansas City’s MAX system Cleveland’s Health Line in the Euclid Corridor

Analysis of three station areas on two RapidRide corridors: Ballard: RapidRide D Line–15th and Market in Ballard (City of Seattle) Bitter Lake: RapidRide E Line–130th and Aurora in Broadview/Bitter

Lake (City of Seattle) Echo Lake: RapidRide E Line–192nd and Aurora (City of Shoreline)

Cleveland Health Line Station

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Analysis Questions

Scope: within a ½ mile of each station and the next five years: Neighborhood design Transitioning auto-oriented corridors Range of housing Development opportunities and jobs Marketing Stakeholder institutions

Art at a BRT station in Kansas City

New housing in Ballard, near the planned RapidRide D Line

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BRT and Land Use Initiative: Recommendations and Report

Analysis of RapidRide as BRT Summaries of the three external

case studies BRT and land use: principles and

lessons learned Recommendations related to transit

service, corridors, marketing, and stakeholder institutions

Recommendations for the three station areas

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Key Recommendations

Focus on Corridors Develop Champions Promote Community Value

RapidRide is planned for Aurora Avenue North, already a highly used transit corridor in Seattle

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What kind of BRT is RapidRide?

RapidRide is a form of “arterial BRT”: Routes follow commercial arterials connecting major activity centers Running ways in “business access transit” (BAT) lanes Target service level: up to 24 hours a day; peak service every 10

minutes Boarding areas about every half-mile Transit-signal priority Shelters and amenities Real-time arrival information Low-floor, three-door buses

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How arterial BRT “works” from the perspective of land use

Provides convenient and priority access to all that is available—jobs, shopping, services, housing, and friends—in the corridor.

Convenient access: Frequent service, evenings and weekends included In corridors that are lined with diverse land uses

Priority access: Infrastructure and technology gives transit priority Stations and pedestrian infrastructure tell transit users they are a priority

Organizing catalyst

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After the Initiative

Continued outreach Presented report to full

Seattle city council and elected officials in most of the suburban RapidRide service areas

Growing Transit Communities (HUD Sustainable Communities grant) Conduct similar initiative for light rail corridors

The city of Shoreline is rebuilding its portion of Aurora Ave North to better support pedestrians and RapidRide

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Summary of Outcomes and Results

Recommendations Produced detailed recommendations for two RapidRide corridors and three

station areas.

“Ten Principles” Developed principles that can be applied to arterial BRT across the Puget

Sound region and elsewhere in the United States.

Break down silos Facilitated discussions of BRT and land use among elected officials and

between public sector and private sector decision-makers.

Leadership Emerged as a leading voice on transit and land use for BRT and rail.

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Lessons Learned - Opportunities

For BRT and land use: There is a “there, there”

For taking on emerging issues: District Council/Georgetown Partnership is an effective approach• National resources• On-the-ground and practical problem-solving

ULI strength: be nimble and opportunity-driven; produce results quickly Engage existing task forces to lead effort• Use emerging issue to foster collaboration among task forces

Standard ULI toolbox is adaptable—programs and TAPs