CO-ORDINATED TRANSIT HOUSING PLANS
Formally require transit investments and housing affordability strategies to be planned, approved, and delivered together to
ensure new transit improves access without driving displacement.
What it is
Requires formal alignment between transit agencies,
municipal planning departments, and housing
authorities to jointly plan station locations, land use,
and affordable housing outcomes. This ensures
housing affordability objectives are embedded at the
earliest stages of transit decision-making.
Essential Components
- Formal coordination mandates (legislative or policy-based)
- Joint corridor and station-area planning processes
- Integrated capital planning and land- use approval
EQUITY IMPACTS
When transit and housing are planned separately, transit investments often accelerate land speculation and
displacement long before housing tools are deployed. Residential rents within approximately 800 metres of new
rapid transit stations have the potential to increase faster than regional averages in the absence of coordinated
housing policy.
Coordination mandates help counter this dynamic by ensuring that zoning changes, land acquisition, and affordable
housing requirements are activated early, protecting low-income renters, transit-dependent households, and
racialized communities who are most vulnerable to transit-induced displacement.
HOW IT WORKS
Tie transit decision-making to housing outcomes
through formal requirements rather than voluntary
collaboration.
This sequencing ensures that land-use entitlements
and housing tools are in place before land values rise,
which allows public agencies to shape development
outcomes.
01
Transit corridors and station locations are selected through processes that require housing and planning staff to assess the following: displacement risk, affordability gaps, and land-use capacity alongside ridership and cost considerations.
02
Transit funding approvals and major milestones are conditioned on the adoption of aligned zoning, affordability targets, or housing investment strategies within station areas.
SPOTLIGHT: PORTLAND, OREGON
The Portland metropolitan region’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) efforts offer a leading U.S. example of coordinated transit and housing planning. Metro’s regional TOD grant program supports the creation of higher-density, affordable, and mixed-income housing near frequent transit corridors, using investment criteria that emphasize affordability and equity.
OUTCOMES
- TriMet’s Transit-Oriented Development Program, guided by Board-approved TOD Guidelines (May 2020) and a Regional TOD Plan, has supported delivery of 718 residential units to date, approximately 66% of which are affordable to households earning ≤60% AMI. Metro’s broader TOD grants have catalyzed thousands of units region-wide since the late 1990s.
- Current equity-focused strategic planning acknowledges the risk of displacement as land values rise near transit stations, and incorporates metrics to advance equitable outcomes.
Policy based framework: Together, TriMet’s TOD
Guidelines and Regional TOD Plan create a consistent, scalable structure for aligning transit planning, land use readiness, and development feasibility. These plans effectively work to guide coordination across agencies through an integrated policy based (non-legislative) framework.
Targeted funding programs that align housing and transit objectives: Metro’s TOD grants and TriMet’s TOD portfolio both condition funding on proximity to frequent transit and strong affordability outcomes.
Early site control and acquisition: Metro prioritizes early acquisition of land near planned or existing high-capacity transit to secure sites for affordable housing before market pressures escalate.
Clear affordability benchmarks: TriMet’s portfolio demonstrates enforceable affordability outcomes, with approximately two-thirds of delivered units affordable to households earning ≤60% AMI.