Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

BART TOD & Real Estate News (Updated June 28, 2021):

Lake Merritt Transit-Oriented Development Approved by Oakland Planning Commission: The Oakland Planning Commission approved a Preliminary Development Plan for a Planned Unit Development on BART Property at the Lake Merritt Station. This project will consist of over 550 homes, 40% of which are affordable, and over 500,000 square feet of office and retail space. The application to the City may be viewed on their website.

What is Transit Oriented Development (TOD)?

Transit oriented development (TOD) is well designed, mixed-use, higher density development adjacent to frequent transit. It helps communities and transit agencies increase sustainable transit ridership, revitalize communities, enhance regional quality of life, and strengthen economic competitiveness. By focusing housing and jobs near transit, communities can accommodate new growth while minimizing associated congestion and environmental impacts.

Board-Adopted Policies Guiding Transit-Oriented Development

BART’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Program is guided by the following Board-adopted policy documents:

Visit the Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines page for more details on BART's procedures to advance transit-oriented development. 

Transit-Oriented Development Goals

BART strives to achieve its six TOD Policy goals through both station area planning and development of BART-owned property. These six goals are:

  • Complete Communities: Partner to ensure BART contributes to neighborhood/district vitality, creating places offering a mix of uses and incomes.

  • Sustainable Communities Strategy: Lead in the delivery of the region's land use and transportation vision to achieve quality of life, economic, and greenhouse gas reduction goals.

  • Ridership: Increase BART ridership, particularly in locations and times when the system has capacity to grow.

  • Value Creation and Value Capture: Enhance the stability of BART's financial base by capturing the value of transit, and reinvesting in the program to maximize TOD goals.

  • Transportation Choice: Leverage land use and urban design to encourage non-auto transportation choices both on and off BART property, through enhanced walkability and bikeability, and seamless transit connectivity.

  • Affordability: Serve households of all income levels by linking housing affordability with access to opportunity.

BART's performance to date is encapsulated in the graphic below, which is an excerpt from BART's 10-Year Transit-Oriented Development Work Plan (2020-2030):

BART TOD Goals and Performance

BART's Progress to Date and 10-Year Work Plan

BART has 13 completed projects, 4 under construction projects, and 7 approved projects in the pipeline.  More on these individual projects can be found at the “Completed TOD Projects” and “Upcoming TOD Projects” pages.  Below is a summary of development to date within BART’s TOD Portfolio.

Additionally BART owns an estimated 250 acres at 27 stations that could accommodate future development. You can view an online map of BART's property.

BART makes decisions about where and how to invest in future transit-oriented development based on its 10-Year Work Plan. Download the draft for screen viewing or the printable version. The final version will be available in mid-2021. The appendix includes data for each individual station area.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN BART’S TOD PORTFOLIO AS OF MARCH 2021

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN BART’S TOD PORTFOLIO AS OF MARCH 2021

List is subject to change, as development plans are extremely dynamic.

BART TOD Program Staff

Joseph Basuino, Principal Right-of-Way Officer

Sean Brooks, Director of Real Estate

Shannon Dodge, Principal Property Development Officer

Nicole Franklin, Principal Property Development Officer

Kimberly Koempel, Principal Planner

Yvette McCoy, Principal Property Development Officer

John Rennels, Project Manager

John Stevens, Principal Property Development Officer

Abigail Thorne-Lyman, TOD Group Manager

Paul Voix, Principal Property Development Officer