A City effort to encourage development that is well-served by transit has gotten underway with Plan Commission discussions on creating a “Transit-Oriented Development overlay zoning district.” As recommended by the 2018 Comprehensive Plan, this “TOD overlay” would potentially create development intensity minimums, reduce parking requirements, and support transit use, among other possible tweaks to underlying zoning regulations. “With the substantial Federal and City investment in bus rapid transit, alongside the Metro Network Redesign, now is the time to make it easier to build housing and grow employment along our best-served transit corridors,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.

TOD can be one component of a multi-strategy approach to building affordable housing that has good access to jobs. “Paired with the City’s use of our Affordable Housing Fund to support projects close to transit, the TOD changes will not only make it easier to build housing, but easier to build affordable and workforce housing with transit-supported access to jobs,” said District 2 Alder and Plan Commissioner Patrick Heck.

Increasing employment and housing close to transit provides an alternative to driving that can enable families to go car-light or car free. “Encouraging more density along our highest-quality transit routes will support our primary transportation goal of lowering the number of vehicle miles traveled in Madison. This allows us to more sustainably accommodate our continued regional growth without the devastating impacts of increasing traffic,” said District 15 Alder and Transportation and Policy Planning Board member Grant Foster.

Public involvement in this TOD effort is underway, with informational virtual meetings scheduled for both noon and 6pm on May 11th and May 16th. Meeting registration and more information on the TOD effort is available on the project webpage.