TOD is an urban planning strategy that promotes high-density, mixed-use development around public transport hubs such as metro or railway stations. It aims to make public transport the focal point of city development, contrasting with car-centric urban sprawl.
It integrates land use and transport planning and aims to develop planned sustainable urban growth centers, having walkable and livable communes with high density mixed land-use. Citizens have access to open green and public spaces and at the same time transit facilities are efficiently utilized.
TOD focuses on creating high density mixed land use development in the influence zone of transit stations, i.e. within the walking distance of (500-800 m) transit station or along the corridor in case the station spacing is about 1km as shown in the figure. TOD facilitates pedestrian walks to access various facilities such as shopping, entertainment and work.
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| TOD along Transit Stations |
National Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy, 2017
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the policy to guide states and cities in adopting TOD-based urban growth.
- Promotes public transport and green mobility, reducing pollution and congestion.
- Encourages compact, walkable, and affordable neighborhoods with dense infrastructures.
- Shifts focus from private vehicles to public transport-oriented developments.
- Integrates inclusive and affordable housing for all income group.
- Enhances recreation, safety, and environmental sustainability through eco-friendly travel options.
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| Core Principles of TOD |
Why is Transit-Oriented Development Important for Urban Development?
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| Benefits of TOD |
What Are the Problems Related to the Implementation of TOD Projects in India?
- High Investment Requirement: The implementation of TOD requires a very high investment cost due to land acquisition and mixed use development. It might also increase the property values leading to displacement.
- Design Issues: Lack of integration through last-mile connectivity including pedestrian paths, cycling tracks, and feeder bus systems is required for successful TOD implementation. Automobile dependency and additional load on water, sanitation, and public services also contribute to this problem.
- Fragmented Institutional Structure: Fragmentation between urban local bodies, metro organizations, and State governments, coupled with the absence of any overall transport organization, results in planning issues related to TOD.
- Higher Population Density: Due to lack of regulation, there will be uneven development in certain high-density areas while other areas remain undeveloped with inadequate connectivity.
- Inherent Problem with India: As compared to other countries like Hong Kong or Singapore, where TOD can effectively utilize land resources, it may not work well in cases like New Delhi or Bengaluru.
Steps Needed to Implement TOD
- Assess: To conduct an evaluation of road safety condition of a city by conducting assessments of the existing situation and analyzing the same in terms of demographic assessment and assessment of road crashes; infrastructure conditions and spatial assessment; and policy, regulatory and capacity assessment.
- Enable: To create an enabling environment, which will encourage institutions and other stakeholders to become aware of the road safety challenges and enable a TOD project to take care of any gaps identified above and serve as a catalyst in achieving road safety.
- Plan & Design: To plan and design infrastructure which takes care of networking challenges in a TOD station area. And the designs are equitable in nature and equipped to accommodate the increasing needs of the user.
- Finance: To create innovative financing mechanisms for local authorities, enabling institutions, developers and property owners to facilitate fund allocation for ensuring road safety.
- Implement: To overcome barriers in implementation of road safety in a TOD station area taking into account different gaps identified and evaluating the same through performance measures for road safety.
In fact, TOD has always been regarded as one of the key elements needed to transform automobile-dominated sprawling regions found in most countries into more dense regions that are based on rail systems. However, today, TOD no longer refers to the railway station area alone but corridors and full transportation networks, which are based on not just rail-based modes of transit (including heavy rail, light rail transport, bus rapid transit, and local bus), but also on walking and cycling. However, TOD is certainly not a panacea for transportation-related issues in the metropolitan area since it too comes with its difficulties, such as displacement of existing residents and businesses. Nevertheless, while it may still be difficult to undertake a successful implementation of TOD, our list of key success factors and a ranking scale would help in implementing successful TOD in any area.
