Kitsap Transit & Transit-Oriented Development
This story courtesy of Earth Share organization Transportation Choices Coalition
Kitsap Transit's general manager, Dick Hayes, knows that he approaches transit differently than most other transit agency managers. That's largely because Kitsap Transit fulfills different needs than most other transit agencies--less than an hour from Seattle and surrounded on three sides by water, they are in the passenger ferry business just as much as they are in the bus business. It's also partially due to the fact that he envisions transportation as a way to concurrently think about land-use planning, jobs, housing, and health. Although, like other transit agency managers, Hayes oversees routed buses, Worker/Driver buses, vanpools, ACCESS buses, and ferries, more recently he's been searching for better ways to make all of these modes of transit work in a seamless system. He and numerous other transit, land-use, and transportation planners around the country are finding smart, cost-effective, creative ways to spur development, encourage density in urban areas, and get more people on public transportation using "Transit-Oriented Development."
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) refers to a type of transportation-based land-use development that attracts new jobs and housing to areas within a quarter- to half-mile walk from a transit station that is served by frequent and reliable transit services. These communities, often called "livable communities," are easy to walk and bicycle to and around, and have many attractions, including parks and after-work activities. Studies show that people who live and work in TOD communities are healthier and take fewer automobile trips, generating less traffic congestion and putting fewer burdens on state highways and local roads.
The recently renovated Bremerton Transportation Center (BTC) is one such example. Kitsap Transit invested the first $50 million, through numerous sources of local, state, and federal funding, to the renovation efforts of downtown Bremerton. Projects will eventually include the Transit Center; a conference center, Harborside, which opened in November 2004 next to the BTC; and dense, mixed-use housing developments, which, Hayes says, are filling quickly with people from throughout the nation.
Bremerton is a short 40-minute ferry ride from Seattle, and Hayes recognizes that as Seattle and King County continue to expand, some of the burgeoning population will spread westward into Kitsap County. That's why he knows that helping revitalize Bremerton now is money well spent: the ferries that dock at the BTC will put more of the coming population growth into a compact, easy-to-serve area. TOD has created a friendly and livable place with good transit options, less traffic congestion and pollution in Kitsap County, and a better bottom line for Kitsap Transit and the region.
Just outside the BTC bus turn-around, Opticon-technology signal preemption changes traffic signals green, and similar "lookback" signal preemption turns the light behind the bus red, so that the driver can get back in the traffic lane and everyone stays on schedule to get home or to work on time. As an added advantage, Hayes also discovered that the Opticon technology resulted in a 10% reduction in stopping needs and reduced wear on brakes, saving Kitsap Transit money in brake replacement costs. Simple things such as new technology to keep transit moving tend to have larger positive effects on the entire system.
However, not everyone understands the ideas behind TOD, and Hayes tells me he receives about 10 complaints each month because there's no parking just outside the ferry terminal--instead, there's a bus turn-around. "Some people don't understand why they can't drive right up to the front of the BTC building," he says. Putting public transportation front and center helps increase awareness and ridership, and helps keep people in downtown Bremerton, instead of simply driving out of town.
Today in Kitsap County, rush hour only lasts 30 minutes, but Hayes knows that won't be true for much longer. More people are moving to Kitsap County, and without smarter investments in transit and development, the area could quickly become congested and polluted from the increased crush of cars at rush hour. Hayes doesn't think that enough people in the region realize the implications of the population and commuting expansions, or of the need to start planning for it now. Kitsap Transit has tried to stay ahead of the curve in Bremerton, but Hayes sees needs beyond what�s already been done. Poulsbo and Port Orchard are two other congestion hot spots that Hayes says will need help in the form of TOD. What�s needed now is a larger vision for planning, siting, and constructing TOD.
Unfortunately, there is currently no direct state funding for TOD projects. Hayes would like to see TOD become a standard part of land-use planning in the region, and to see the state provide incentives for TOD projects, as it does for other economic development projects. As Hayes has begun to see, increased funding for TOD helps cities revitalize their old downtowns, creating locally-based economic engines that produce new jobs and housing. The people who live in transit-oriented areas also have less need for costly new road widening projects which, in turn, saves taxpayers money. As Hayes sees it, it's a win-win situation that makes sense for the state and for taxpayers. "Transportation planners are land-use planners," he says. "It's the same thing. When I look to the future, I see two options: six more lanes on all highways, or the transit alternative. I'm working towards the transit alternative with TOD."
