Transit oriented development has become the holy grail of land use and transportation planners. The logic of concentrating both residential and commercial growth at transit stations — especially rail transit stations — is compelling and has ample empirical support. There is also evidence that transit accessibility increases property values near stations and that mixed use, high density development near stations increases transit ridership.

But investments in transit are designed to move riders through a transit corridor, thus the success of transit investments should be measured at the corridor, not the station, level. In this presentation, Professor Gerrit Knaap, director of the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, introduced the newly formed Purple Line Corridor Coalition.

The goal of the coalition is to assure that investments in the purple line transit corridor achieve more than transit oriented development but serve as a stimulus for sustainable and equitable economic development throughout the corridor without displacing affordable housing or small businesses.