LAND USE IMPACTS OF THE HOUSTON TRANSITWAY SYSTEM

Abstract

This research effort was directed toward assisting the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation in the planning and impact evaluation of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes or transitways. The primary objective of this research effort was to measure, analyze, and evaluate the land use impacts of the construction of permanent transitways and park-and-ride facilities on freeway corridors in Houston, Texas. Given the relative newness of transitways in the nation, very little data have been collected or experience gained with the land use impacts of this type of transportation improvement. A review of the literature failed to identify any direct literature on this subject. A survey of operational transitways identified some locations where transitway facility land use impacts possibly had occurred. The prevailing opinion among transitway operators is, and evidence suggests, that land use impacts of transitways are likely to be highly localized and that transitways may induce some shifts in development and settlement patterns rather than generate entirely new development. This paper presents the results of before-after analyses of land use changes in the vicinity of a typical park-and-ride lot in Houston's North Freeway (I-45N) corridor. The results indicate that the land use impacts of the HOV treatments have been relatively insignificant. The study site showed only three possible instances of land use impacts. However, study areas in the corridors surveyed have substantial amounts of undeveloped land, and it may prove necessary to wait until the transitways and associated support facilities become fully operational before a more definitive assessment of land use impacts is possible.

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