Bay Area Rapid Transit's Comprehensive Station Plans: Integrating Capacity, Access, and Land Use Planning at Rail Transit Stations

Abstract

Planning at transit stations often involves an uneven field of stake-holders with varying degrees of interest in a station and its immediate area. Because a controlling influence among these stakeholders is usually absent, rail transit agencies often divide station area planning into its component parts and work with appropriate partners to develop plans and strategies for future investment. Although this approach is practical and expedient, it often ignores the integrated nature of a transit station, its surrounding land uses, and the larger transportation network. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) district—a heavy rail mass transit system serving the Bay Area—has recently completed a series of planning studies meant to integrate station capacity, access, and land use development. The overriding goal of a comprehensive station plan (CSP) is to create a consensus for future investment by partner agencies, the private sector, and BART alike. This new approach has been undertaken in direct support of BART's strategic plan, adopted in 1999, which has advanced a range of new policies and programs that ultimately have led to the CSP process. An overview of the CSP process is based on BART's initial experience at its Pleasant Hill Station along with examples from Balboa Park and Union City. How the CSP process integrates the components of station capacity, access, and area development to create a well-balanced investment strategy is also considered. Finally, the guidance in BART's strategic plan and achieving the plan's goals are particularly emphasized.