ABSTRACT
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a planning approach aimed at sustainable development by reducing the need for private transport through making transit a more attractive mode of travel. We believe that TOD planning could greatly benefit from the comprehensive measurement of typical TOD indicators, which are combined to be expressed as a value on a TOD index. An index allows not only the assessment of existing TOD features at a specific location, but also the identification of those features that need to be improved. Such assessments are crucial for drawing up more specific, effective policies, programmes and fiscal interventions for achieving TOD aims. This chapter elaborates on the TOD index: its need, workings and use. Traditionally, TOD planning is about improving ‘development’ around transit nodes. For our case-study of the City Region Arnhem–Nijmegen, however, we extended our focus beyond the local scale around transit nodes to the regional scale. For both local and regional scales, separate TOD indices were proposed and used. Calculation of these TOD indices included measurement of various spatial and non-spatial indicators using GIS, Multiple-Criteria Assessment (MCA) and Spatial Multiple-Criteria Assessment (SMCA). The methodology is not only simple, transparent, robust and back-traceable, but also repeatable for other areas, cities or regions.
