Percentage of new residential units permitted within a quarter-mile of a high-frequency transit route or protected bicycle facility

Status

Currently, this measure indicates that 47% of new residential units permitted in 2022 were within a ¼ mile of these types of high-quality multimodal facilities.  
 This measure helps us gauge whether new residential development is being located near existing high-quality multimodal mobility options. When people live near high-quality transit and bicycle facilities, it makes it easier and more convenient to choose alternatives to driving alone for some trips. Generally, a ¼ mile represents roughly a 5- to 10-minute walk, which is accepted nationally as a reasonable distance to walk to access a high-quality bus route. 
The Austin Strategic Mobility Plan (ASMP) set a goal for Austin to attain a 50/50 mode share by 2039, meaning that 50% of commute trips would be by a mode other than driving alone. A large share of new residential units located near high-frequency transit and protected bicycle facilities indicates that residential development is choosing to locate near multimodal options, rather than locating further away with limited travel choices and contributing to increased sprawl.  

Trending

Over the past five years, the percentage of residential growth within a ¼ mile of multi-modal transportation facilities has generally grown steadily. In 2017 the percentage of units permitted within a ¼ mile of  high-quality multimodal transportation facilities was at 40% , the number increased in both 2018 and 2019, before a slight drop in 2020. In 2021 the number rebounded to hit the target goal where 60% of new units permitted were within a ¼ mile of these high-quality multimodal transportation facilities. However, in 2022 it dropped again to 47%. While this data can be easily influenced by one or two large development projects, it is better to look more broadly over time. We hope to see this percentage continue to increase in the future years. The more people who live near multimodal options, the more people who have choices other than just driving for some of their trips.  
Note: To see the underlying data for this chart, please select the "View Source Data" link.
Many factors influence the development of new residential units near existing high-quality transit and bicycle infrastructure, including development potential, land values and costs, real estate construction cycles, existing residential supply and current demand levels, development regulations and review process efficiency, and the amount and location of high quality multimodal facilities provided by the City and partner agencies like Capital Metro.  
While some of those factors are larger than the City can influence on its own, the City is able to directly contribute to the supply of multimodal infrastructure. Current local bond programs, including the 2016, 2018, and 2020 Bonds will continue to deliver high quality multimodal infrastructure to Austin for many years. On the housing and land use side, the City can leverage opportunities like the 2018 Affordable Housing Bond to increase the number of affordable residential units near existing multimodal infrastructure and implement regulations and incentive programs to encourage private developers to add housing in those areas. 

Measure Details and Definition

1) Definition:  
“Permitted new residential units” includes all new housing units that were issued a building permit by the City of Austin. Please note that some of these units may still be in various stages of development at time of reporting and that the number of building permits issued does not necessarily reflect new homes with people living in them. See Calculation Method section below for more insight into what goes into this part of the measure. 
“High-frequency transit routes” include public transportation train lines and bus routes where a train or bus arrives roughly every 15 minutes or sooner. As of the time of reporting, Capital Metro routes 2, 4, 7, 10, 17, 18, 20, 300, 311, 325, 333, 335, 801 and 803 operate as high-frequency transit routes.  
“Protected bicycle facilities” include one-way and two-way bicycle lanes with physical protection from vehicular traffic and also include off-street bicycle facilities such as urban trails and shared use paths. 

2) Calculation method:
To calculate the percentage that is reported in this measure, the number of housing units permitted in a given year that are within ¼ mile of high frequency transit routes and protected bicycle facilities is divided by the total number of housing units permitted within the same year. 
The ¼ mile distance is determined using a buffer, or “as the crow flies” distance, from the center of the linear spatial data for high frequency transit lines and protected bicycle facilities. It is important to note that a more realistic representation of distance than a buffer would be to use a network analysis approach instead. A network approach would consider the actual distance one would need to walk along the sidewalk network to reach a high frequency transit route or protected bicycle facility, which is not frequently as simple as traveling on a straight line due to the layout of streets themselves or barriers to pedestrian travel like major highways or fenced-off areas. Unfortunately, obtaining spatial data to complete a full network analysis is difficult at this time, and therefore the buffered approximation of a ¼ mile was used.   
This year’s analysis used the current transportation network to establish the percentage of residential units within ¼ mile of a high-frequency transit route or protected bicycle facility. Previous analyses of this indicator relied on the 2020 version of the transportation network. The pairing of 2015 permit data with the 2020 transportation network was done to allow us to set a trendline based on the data we have. Future analyses will continue to match the permitting year with the current transportation network at the time of reporting. 

3) Data Collection Process: 
The data on permitted new residential units is collected by the Development Services Department and accessed by staff through the permit database known as AMANDA. Spatial data on existing high frequency transit routes is provided by Capital Metro, while data on existing protected bicycle infrastructure is maintained by the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department. 

4) Measure Target Calculation: 
The target for this measure has been set at 60%. This target was determined after a review of the previous five years of performance. Setting the target slightly higher than 50% means that the total amount of new permitted residential units within ¼ mile of high frequency transit and protected bicycle facilities would increase faster than the number of new units outside a ¼ mile, so that year over year the city would see a gradual shift towards more residential development occurring near high-quality multimodal facilities. Even in 2019 when The Independent (a large tower with many residential units in downtown Austin) was permitted, the percentage did not top 60%, so 60% was determined to be a reasonable target to make progress and help Austin reach other goals, such as the ASMP 50/50 mode share goal (see Status section for additional information). 

5) Frequency Measure is Reported: Annually (Fiscal Year)
Date page was last updated: May 2023