Project Description
Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities is a planning and design guide that continues the active role of the client, NJ TRANSIT, in helping communities plan bright futures that support transit access, regional mobility, economic development, sustainability, and a sense of belonging for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. The guide communicates fundamental best practices for transit- friendly planning and design, providing a comprehensive update to NJ TRANSIT’s 1994 edition of Planning for Transit-Friendly Land Use: A Handbook for New Jersey Communities, affectionately known as the “Pink Book.”
An essential component of the three-year process to develop the guide was a collaborative, multidisciplinary, and iterative approach that included authors, designers, and reviewers in the practices of planning, landscape architecture, engineering, architecture, storytelling, and community engagement. As a result, the guide does not represent any one of these professions in a singular form, but extracts vital principles from each, recognizing the layered, synergistic nature of successful communities and places. Overall, the guide is designed for a broad audience and intended to assist community members, elected officials, planning and zoning boards, design professionals, community groups, and other people making decisions that affect community character.
The guide is organized into five chapters that address topics such as land use and transit area development, circulation, and active transportation. Recognizing that no two communities are the same, the recommendations throughout each chapter are further distinguished through a framework of five place types designed to direct readers from diverse communities to guidance that applies distinctly to their local context. Additional guidance from related industry resources is highlighted throughout each chapter, helping readers to enrich their planning and design approach. The final chapter provides examples of successful projects for each place type; explains the design, engagement, and development efforts that contributed to the success of each place; and describes proven approaches to project implementation.
Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities is an important new resource for landscape architects and allied professionals throughout New Jersey. Developed through a multidisciplinary approach, the guide provides an updated lexicon for collaborative design initiatives that can support equitable development, transit access, and a strong sense of place for all kinds of communities. NJ TRANSIT’s Transit Friendly Planning Program will use the guide as a key resource to help communities holistically grow as transit-friendly places, encouraging sustainable, high-quality, equitable development, while prioritizing transit access and mobility.
