Through sensitivity analyses, we projected that a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) focused mainly on jobs would increase Year 2025 system-wide ridership by 15. 2 percent over trend forecasts. A mixed-use scenario involving both job and housing concentration would add another 1.4 percentage points to the trend forecasts. From these results, we recommended that the city and county favor commercial and office development around stations and let market forces largely determine the amount of residential development that occurs. The shift in growth deemed reasonable for this plan increased the Trends projection for multi-family units of 42% in the corridors to 54%. Likewise, office development went from 46% of future growth in Trends to 53%. Simultaneously, multi-family and office growth in the wedges declined. In the Plan, both multi-family and office growth in the Center City are boosted 3% to 9% for multi-family and 10% to 22% for future office.
In allocating residential densities, the Plan averaged 12 du's per acre (gross density) for station area residential development. This allocation was mindful of the relationship between reduction of Vehicle Miles TraveLED and housing density which suggests that up to 20 units per acre there are major reductions in annual VMT (for example, dropping from 30,000 down to about 12,000 annual VMT per household). After that point there are diminishing returns (e.g., 12,000 down to 6,000 at 100 units per acre). For employment densities, station allocations were at about 35 employees per acre, at least twice times the current low density pattern in Charlotte TODay, but still allowin
