Effects of Transit-Oriented Development on Trip Generation, Distribution, and Mode Share in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland

It is claimed that transit-oriented developments (TODs) have the ability to reduce the number and average lengths of auto trips by providing better nonautomobile accessibility to jobs and other destinations and to encourage sustainable modes (i.e., transit, walking, and biking) by facilitating a pedestrian-friendly environment and transit services. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of TODs in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan areas that was performed to investigate whether TODs actually have those hypothesized impacts. Trip generation, trip length, and mode share were modeled in the two case study areas through the use of the most recent local household travel survey data and advanced econometric analysis methods. The findings showed that, overall, people living in TODs made more trips by all modes of transportation but fewer trips by auto. The results also showed that TOD residents tended to travel shorter distances by all modes of transportation, a finding that implies the selection of closer destinations for their activities. Trips originating from TODs had substantially higher nonauto mode shares in both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., after relevant socioeconomic and demographic factors were controlled for. Significant differences in the effectiveness of TODs in these two metropolitan areas were also found to be due to TOD locations, transit system availability and level of service, and TOD resident characteristics.