About the Plan

PRT's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Action Plan was created between fall 2022 and spring 2023 in consultation with partner agencies and departments to identify near-term actions government entities can take to advance TOD outcomes in our region. Planning partners included:

  • City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning
  • City of Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure
  • Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
  • Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh
  • Allegheny County Department of Economic Development
  • Allegheny County Housing Authority
  • Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

Current Actions

PRT staff are actively pursuing the following actions from the plan. To see the full list of the plan's actions, please review the drop downs below. For development projects, please refer to the TOD Program page.

  • Dedicate staff to implementing the TOD Action Plan. Through our 2024 Fiscal Year Budget (starts July 1, 2023), PRT was able to fund a staff position to help advance programs including the TOD Program. The position will be posted shortly, and once hired, will allow PRT to more swiftly pursue development on PRT property, integrate TOD into PRT planning projects, and collaborate with partners on TOD supportive activities.
  • Dedicate funds to support PRT TOD projects. The 2024 Fiscal Year Budget also included initial funding for staff to use in taking TOD projects forward. Our expectation is that these funds will be used for pre-development services, advising on funding strategies, and other tasks related to successful TOD on PRT. The first project is a partnership with the Borough of Dormont at our Dormont Junction Station. We will replenish these funds as needed.
  • Create policies and/or guidelines for equitable and sustainable development. PRT staff have already conducted research on best practices by other transit agencies in pursuing high quality TOD projects. During fall 2023 through the winter, staff will translate this research into policies and/or guidelines that will relate to PRT's own TOD projects.
  • Use planning projects to coordinate transit, infrastructure, and land uses sustainably and equitably throughout the county. PRT is currently scoping a number of corridor planning projects where TOD opportunities will be a key component of the project. Staff from the Corridor Planning and Transit-Oriented Communities teams will work together on these projects to maximize their potential for development that supports community goals.
  • Maintain public-facing TOD website to provide information about the TOD Action Plan, PRT’s activities including open RFPs, relevant projects, PRT and partner generated resources such guidelines and presentations, and progress reports. This website is part of addressing this need. We will continue to launch more public-facing materials and resources as the program matures in the years ahead. Please check the TOD Program page for more information.

Plan Contents

The planning process allowed city, county, and regional government partners to identify shared goals that TOD can address. These included:

  • Improving access to opportunities for employment, education, healthcare, and recreation;
  • Creating new affordable housing that is connected by transit to the region;
  • Generating investments through the construction of buildings, leasable spaces, and services by and for disadvantaged communities;
  • Creating safer, healthier, and more accessible communities with no pedestrian deaths;
  • Generating revenue and capturing value that can improve the transit system; and
  • Increasing ridership to create a more sustainable region.
  • Maintain and implement a development project pipeline that clearly indicates when PRT expects to redevelop its property. Review these priorities annually to capture changes in thinking, market conditions, and other external factors. Prior to taking a project forward, determine if zoning amendments are needed. If they are, discuss with municipality if they would like us to undertake them for our project or if they would like to partner on a new district that encompasses a larger area. Offer housing authorities and other county and municipal departments opportunities to partner on projects. (Completed through TOD Action Plan - See PRT's TOD Program page)
  • Work with government partners to develop shared roles and responsibilities for the use of TOD-supportive tools and resources. (Completed through TOD Action Plan - See Tools and Resources below)
  • Dedicate staff to implementing the TOD Action Plan. This includes pursuing development on PRT property, helping to integrate TOD into PRT planning projects, hosting regional coordination meetings, and collaborating with partners on TOD supportive activities. (Start in 2023)
  • Dedicate funds to support PRT TOD projects. These funds would be used for pre-development services, advising on funding strategies, and other tasks related to successful TOD on PRT property. (Completed through FY24 Budget)
  • Create policies and/or guidelines for equitable and sustainable development. These guidelines would apply to PRT projects and could be used to determine PRT support for projects by others. (Start in 2023)
  • Establish process for development-funded transit service. This would provide a new revenue stream, support better transit service at dense new sites, and better serve surrounding areas. (Start in 2024)
  • Develop strategy for using federal and/or PRT funds to directly support TOD projects on PRT property. (Start in 2024)
  • Work with municipalities to incorporate transit and TOD into development review processes. Work has already begun with the City of Pittsburgh. Speak with smaller municipalities to understand and address their needs. (Ongoing)
  • Use planning projects to coordinate transit, infrastructure, and land uses sustainably and equitably throughout the county. Relevant programs and projects:
    • Station Area Planning (Ongoing)
    • Corridor Planning (Ongoing)
    • Facilities Master Plan (Ongoing)
    • Park and Ride Study (Start in 2023)
  • Increase the impact of PRT projects by proactively partnering with municipalities prior to the start of planning. Use discussions to develop an appropriate role for them ranging from stakeholder to full member of the planning team. As part of these discussions, address local capacity needs so that partners can maximize the benefits of the project for communities. Relevant projects:
    • Homestead to McKeesport Corridor Plan (Ongoing)
    • East/Central River to River Corridor Feasibility Study (Start in 2023)
    • Extending the East Busway Corridor Feasibility Study (Start in 2024)
  • Work with developers of TOD projects on PRT property to make childcare, affordable housing, and other services available to PRT employees to improve their quality of life and help overcome talent attraction and retention issues. (Start in 2024)
  • Partner with City of Pittsburgh on studies to tackle complicated mutually beneficial opportunities including building over busways, funding staff to undertake TOD activities, and using vacant property studies and other projects to create sites for TOD. (Start in 2024)
  • Convene quarterly partners meeting to maintain momentum, share information, and develop new resources to support collective TOD action. (Ongoing)
  • Maintain public-facing TOD website to provide information about the TOD Action Plan, PRT’s activities including open RFPs, relevant projects, PRT and partner generated resources such guidelines and presentations, and TOD Five-Year Progress Reports. Present materials in ways that different audiences can find them. (Ongoing)

  • Use municipal planning and rezoning projects to establish supportive conditions for TOD. Projects include comprehensive planning, neighborhood planning, property studies, master planning, and district or larger scale rezonings. Ensure development is transit adjacent, equitable, affordable, sustainable, and limits parking. Example projects:
  • Integrate TOD strategy into Allegheny County Comprehensive Plan and SALDO Updates. Define nodes and corridors with dense, mixed-use development adjacent to existing transit corridors and those proposed in NEXTransit. Establish policies and strategies that can provide a basis for municipal action. Incentivize implementation by providing grants to fund municipal planning projects and rezonings. Use Comprehensive Plan policies and strategies when evaluating and approving municipality proposed SALDO/zoning amendments. PRT can support the planning process on transit and TOD matters. (Forthcoming)
  • Lead, fund, and approve TOD projects. Housing authorities and redevelopment authorities should prioritize the funding of projects within a ½ mile walkshed of frequent transit (and within ¼ mile of frequent transit if possible). Where projects are near transit, work with developers to provide improvements to make the site transit accessible. Whenever possible, planning departments / staff should lead design and engagement processes to establish community-supported development goals for the RFP. (Ongoing)
  • Establish TRID districts and transportation impact fees to direct development funds to transit and pedestrian access improvements. PRT can play a role in identifying opportunities for these kinds of tools through its planning processes. Relevant projects:
    • East Liberty TRID (Currently Operating)
    • Manchester-Chateau TRID (Expected During 2023/2024)
  • Prioritize, lead, and support transportation infrastructure projects that improve access to transit. While many projects can be led independently by DOMI, PRT, or others, some will require greater collaboration. PRT’s Transportation Access Improvement Program (TAIP) can be one venue for showing projects that would benefit from collaboration. (Ongoing)

During the planning process, government partners were asked to identify the planning and regulatory tools, federal funding programs, and local funding programs that can be utilized to support TOD outcomes in Allegheny County as well as which government entity or entities are best suited to take action for each. This resulted in the two documents below.

Table

This two-page table provides a snapshot of all of the tools and resources that were identified including who can use the tool or resource, how it can be utilized to support TOD, the process for doing so, and challenges associated with each tool. For funding programs, the annual funding available is show. For tools that would have costs, those are represented with one to four dollar signs to represent low to high costs.

Download the Table (PDF, 85 KB)

Image showing the first page of the TOD Tools and Resources Table.

Additional Documentation

Download the Additional Documentation (PDF, 2.66 MB)

For some of the tools and programs in the table, an additional document was created to provide more details, case studies from across North America, and helpful links. Not all tools and funding programs in to Tool Table are represented in this document.

Timeline of Recent TOD Efforts

This abbreviated timeline covers most of PRT's transit-oriented development efforts since 2015. It does not include specific Station Area Plans that call for TOD, which can be found on the TOD program page.

  • Timeline item 1 - complete

    2015

    PRT publishes its first Station Evaluation that used various data metrics including TOD opportunity to set priorities for the Station Improvement Program. Station area plans become the initial mechanism PRT uses to identify potential TOD projects on its property.

  • Timeline item 2 - complete

    2016

    PRT releases its Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines to re-establish a dedicated Transit-Oriented Development program and give it clearer direction.

  • Timeline item 3 - complete

    2017

    PRT staff support the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning in creating Zoning Code amendments that would support TOD along the proposed Downtown-Uptown-Oakland BRT corridor (Uptown Public Realm District) and all riverfront areas (RIV Districts).

  • Timeline item 4 - complete

    2018

    PRT updates the Station Evaluation to incorporate its new Equity Index of Mobility Need. PRT’s Board adopts the Joint Development Policy to establish clear processes for staff to follow in undertaking TOD projects with development partners and to provide a pathway for PRT to review and respond to speculative proposals from development interests.

  • Timeline item 5 - complete

    2019

    PRT partners with the Congress of Neighboring Communities (CONNECT) to release the TOD Zoning Best Practices Toolkit to provide general guidance to the region’s municipalities for drafting regulations that support TOD. A handful of inner ring municipalities received specific guidance based on their Zoning Code and unique conditions.

  • Timeline item 6 - complete

    2021

    PRT released its first Five Year Evaluation of TOD projects in Allegheny County which showed the program needs to have a stronger focus on equity and affordable housing as it moves forward.

  • Timeline item 7 - complete

    2022

    PRT staff participate in the City of Pittsburgh’s Oakland Plan process and related zoning code amendments designed to allow more affordable housing, employment space, and sustainability features along corridors with frequent transit service.

  • Timeline item 8 - active

    2023

    PRT develops the TOD Action Plan in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and SPC to establish shared goals for TOD, a pipeline of projects, an updated set of tools and workplan for establishing more resources to support TOD. PRT also released a Request for Letters of Interest for its Dormont Junction Station TOD project in partnership with the Borough of Dormont.