Innovating TOD Operationalization: A New Technology-Based Framework Leveraging Street-Level Imagery and Computer Vision

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is a planning approach that encourages housing, jobs, and services to be located near public transit, making it easier for people to walk, bike, and use transit instead of driving. TOD plays an important role in reducing traffic congestion, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and creating healthier and more sustainable communities. However, current methods used to measure TOD often rely on outdated or limited data sources that do not fully capture the quality of the walking environment around transit stations.

Many existing TOD measures focus on factors such as density, land-use mix, and proximity to transit, but they often overlook important features that affect people's daily experiences, such as sidewalk conditions, pedestrian crossings, street greenery, shade, and other elements that influence whether walking feels safe and comfortable. As a result, communities may appear to perform well according to traditional TOD metrics while still providing poor walking conditions for residents and transit users.

This project aims to develop a new approach for evaluating TOD by using publicly available street-level images and recent advances in artificial intelligence. Rather than relying solely on traditional datasets, the project will examine what people actually experience when walking near transit stations. By identifying and measuring features of the pedestrian environment, the study will create more detailed and realistic indicators of walkability and transit accessibility.

The project will address three key questions: How can street-level imagery be used to measure the quality of pedestrian infrastructure around transit? Do these new measures provide a more accurate assessment of TOD performance than conventional approaches? And how do walking conditions vary across California communities?

The results will provide planners, transportation agencies, and policymakers with improved tools for evaluating transit-oriented communities and prioritizing investments. Ultimately, the project seeks to support more effective, equitable, and sustainable transportation planning throughout California by ensuring that TOD assessments reflect the real experiences of people who walk to and from transit.