Introduction
Strategic Plan Overview & Purpose
This plan describes Sound Transit’s vision, goals and strategy for creating transit-oriented development (TOD) on and around its stations, transit centers and park-andride lots. TOD is compact public and private development that supports transit use by emphasizing pedestrian and transit access, such as the clustering of development and mixing land uses and activities at and around transit facilities.
Sound Transit, as a regional transit provider, builds and operates high capacity transit (HCT), as distinguished from local transit services. Sound Transit provides regional transit services that connect urban centers: commuter rail, light rail and express bus. Implementation of the Strategic Plan occurs in the context of Sound Move projects completed and under design and construction, and ST2 projects being planned. Sound Transit will implement TOD on its own properties, including forming development partnerships that increase ridership and enhance communities
Generally, the public purpose of this strategy is to assist in integrating land use and transit in an environmentally responsible way. Specifically, this Plan outlines an implementation strategy for Sound Transit’s TOD Program, recognizing that inter-agency, intra-agency, and public collaboration and support are critical factors in the achievement of Sound Transit’s transit-oriented development policies. Of particular importance is the transformation of high capacity transit station areas into livable transit communities.
The Plan is intended for use internally by the Board of Directors and project staff in the analysis, creation, and implementation of TOD projects. TOD Program activity areas include agency roles and responsibilities, as well as methods for evaluating and monitoring plans and projects. Adopted policies and guidance are referenced to reinforce the activities that make up the TOD work program. The Plan also provides local jurisdictions insight into Sound Transit’s work to reinforce urban centers, livable communities, and agency TOD projects.
This Strategic Plan introduces the adopted policy framework which provides focus to the TOD work program within the larger context of the agency’s mission, the implementation of Sound Move beginning in 1996, and ST2, the high capacity transit project adopted in 2008.