MARITIME TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER TIER 1 UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Transit-Oriented Development and Ports: National Analysis across the United States and a Case Study of New Orleans Project Start Date: October 2013 Project End Date: September 2017 Principal Investigator: John L. Renne, Ph.D., AICP Director and Associate Professor, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions School of Urban and Regional Planning Florida Atlantic University Building 44, Room 284 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431 561-297-4281 [email protected] Honorary Research Associate Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment University of Oxford Final Report Date: November 2017 FINAL RESEARCH REPORT Prepared for: Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center University of Arkansas 4190 Bell Engineering Center Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-6021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation under Grant Award Number DTRT13-G-UTC50. The work was conducted through the Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center (MarTREC) at the University of Arkansas. In partnership with and as a member of the MarTREC consortium, this project was funded through the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute, where Dr. John L. Renne was employed until the end of 2015. Dr. Renne would like to acknowledge Tara Tolford and Estefania Mayorga for their efforts on the data analysis and assistance with the report. He is grateful to all of the interviewees who donated their time for the benefit of this study. Finally, Dr. Renne wishes to thank James Amdal for his expertise and assistance on this project. DISCLAIMER The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. Required MarTREC Final Research Report Content and Format 1. Project Description 2. Methodological Approach 3. Results/Findings 4. Impacts/Benefits of Implementation (actual, not anticipated) 5. Recommendations and Conclusions 1. Project Description This study is grounded on the premise that there is one transportation system with many components. Public debates often pit one mode against another mode, such as: automobiles vs. transit, buses vs. trains, walking vs. driving, and freight vs. passenger. However, the reality is that while some people may predominately use one mode, the public should be concerned with all modes that serve communities. The U.S. Department of Transportation is a multimodal agency but the massive nature of the organization has resulted in a structure where various administrations, based on modes, typically focus on their own domain. Local government and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) often have a multimodal approach when it comes to passenger transportation, but freight and passenger interest groups and stakeholders rarely collaborate on unified transportation plans that span both. For example, in South Florida, the airports, ports and transit agencies are all located in close physical proximity, but a tourist arriving at one of the three international airports is not able to easily connect to one of the three major cruise ports utilizing regional transit. The same is true in many other port cities, including New Orleans, which is a focus of this study. The aim of this study is to examine the extent that freight and passenger transportation planning overlap within the context of transit-oriented developments (TODs) near ports. This study also includes a case study of New Orleans. The following research questions explore the geographic connections between fixed-route transit stations, TODs, and their proximity to major ports across the United States. The study applied a TOD-typology, developed and applied in other studies (Renne, Tolford, Hamidi, & Ewing, 2016) to examine the transportation, population and economic characteristics of station areas near ports. Research Questions: RQ1. How many fixed-transit stations, including TODs, in the United States are located within close proximity to port facilities? RQ2. What are the jobs and transportation characteristics of fixed-transit station areas by TOD-typology in the last-mile of ports? RQ3. What lessons can be drawn from the coordination, or lack thereof, between passenger and freight interest groups seeking to promote TOD in neighborhoods in close proximity to the Port of New Orleans? This report summarizes the results of a quantitative analysis on fixed-transit station areas, by TOD- typology, within close proximity of major port facilities across the United States. This study examines the population, jobs, transportation, housing and built environment characteristics of fixed-transit station areas by TOD-typology near major ports, including coastal and major river port facilities. The National TOD Database was combined with the National Transportation Atlas Database, coastline data from the Census and data on major rivers from ArcGIS. The GIS analysis was isolated to all fixed-route transit stations located within a half-mile, 1-mile and 3-miles of coastlines, major rivers and ports. 1 The study also presents a case study of New Orleans, where the revitalization of historic neighborhoods, including the construction of new streetcar lines, bicycle infrastructure and improved pedestrian facilities along with an influx of new residents has created tensions between neighborhoods and freight operators. Communities have been fighting for passenger-transport safety and community livability through a variety of requests that were viewed as potentially restricting freight operations within close proximity of the Port of New Orleans. Freight interests maintained their large employment base with job growth as well as their longstanding presence in the community as vital to the local economy. In the course of this research, the following factors became apparent as indicators of need for success: a transparent planning process and infrastructure investment and coordination across community groups, government agencies, and industry representing both passenger and freight modes. 2 2. Methodological Approach A. Introduction In port cities across the country, thriving neighborhoods surround some ports, but less economically successful areas are found around others. When transit-oriented development solutions are presented to improve struggling communities, some of the proposals fail based on fear or misaligned goals and objectives. The research asks, within the planning process, is there a better way to keep stakeholders aligned with each other’s goals in the areas of freight, passenger, and real estate development? Can agencies better collaborate and members of the community be part of that process? Can more transparency on analysis and implementation result in better outcomes? Would better solutions emerge from more open conversation among stakeholders? The quantitative study helps understand the typologies of ports and development around them. Two categories were identified for purposes of analysis: 1. Ports with lots of warehouses and few people, housing and jobs 2. Ports with highly intensive development in close proximity, including housing, employment and entertainment districts The City of New Orleans was identified as a port city in transition from category 1 to category 2, and therefore a useful case study. A series of stakeholder interviews in the city showed that significant investment in infrastructure is required to progress from category 1 to category 2. B. Background Port cities across the globe have seen a dramatic increase in freight and terminal operations due to increasing globalization (Read, 2004; Hesse & Rodrigue, 2004) . At the same time, neighborhoods around ports have been revitalized into trendy waterfront districts with large-scale reinvestments in residential, employment, tourist, retail and entertainment uses, as illustrated in Conery West in London, Docklands in Melbourne, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Sydney’s Darling Harbor, New Orleans and many other port cities (Butler, 2007; Hall, 1998; Levine, 1987; Campanella, R & APA Planners Press, 2010; Shaw, 2013). In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in what was the costliest disaster in United States history. As New Orleans recovered the city experienced an influx of new residents, including baby boomers, millennials, the creative class, and social and economic entrepreneurs, particularly in neighborhoods on high-ground next to the river. As shown in Figure 1, the “sliver by the river” was the unflooded high ground along the Mississippi River, consisting of historic neighborhoods that were ripe for redevelopment and became the destination for many new residents and business establishments that cater to locals and tourists. The sliver by the river also includes the majority of the Port of New Orleans terminal operations. Neighborhoods including Uptown, Central Business District/Warehouse District, French Quarter, Marigny, and Bywater include major freight terminals. Moreover, this close proximity is in the last mile of freight operations yet also experiencing major reinvestment and gentrification, characterized by rapidly 3 increasing property values,