Land Use

The TPB Vision calls for the region to “Give high priority to regional planning and funding for transportation facilities that serve the regional core and regional activity centers, including expanded rail service and transit centers where passengers can switch easily from one transportation mode to another.”

The TPB and Council of Governments Board of Directors worked cooperatively to develop activity center maps published in 2002. To simplify analysis and to describe related or companion areas within the major transportation corridors, the centers are grouped into clusters.

The activity cluster map (click to zoom) shows the location of current and planned Metrorail and light rail stations relative to the activity clusters. An analysis of the plan, showed that transit mode share was high in activity clusters, particularly core clusters in the District of Columbia, Alexandria, and Arlington.

This analysis also showed that in 2002, 40% of the region's households were located in activity clusters.  By 2030, this number will increase to 42%.  The concentration of jobs in activity clusters will remain steady at 72%.  The  fastest growth is forecast for the suburban clusters. More analysis and conclusions from this activity cluster analysis will be available in the coming months.

Additionally, it is important to note the break-down of transit work trips. Over 40-percent of work trips to the core clusters are transit trips, both in 2002 and 2030. In the suburban clusters, 7-percent of the work trips are via transit in 2002, and that increases to 8-percent in 2030. However, work trips to jobs outside of activity clusters are only 4-percent transit, and that number stays the same between 2002 and 2030. The regional average of transit share of work trips, 16-percent, remains the same between 2002 and 2030.

Finally, it should be noted that in both 2002 and 2030, over 90% of transit work trips are to jobs in activity clusters and over 70% are to the three core activity clusters. This means that transit users work in activity clusters, and if transit ridership is to increase, so should the number of transit-accessible jobs in the activity clusters.

For more information on how the TPB is working to assist municipalities in providing better connections between transportation and land use, please visit the home page of the TPB's Transportation/Land-Use Connection Program.