Follow Smart Growth planning guidelines

Smart Development Program

Hopefully you agree that smart growth is important to building a sustainable community. If you are ready and willing to look into smart growth planning, start with the Ministry of Community Services' Smart Development Program. The West Coast Environmental Law Website has resources available to you as well.

TravelSmart Program from the City of Kamloops

The City of Kamloops developed a TravelSmart Program in order to integrate all sustainable modes of transport in their city.

The TravelSmart plan integrates land use planning and transportation planning into one document. Rather than merely responding to evolving growth patterns, TravelSmart attempts to shape growth in such a way as to minimize capital spending while maintaining mobility on the network. It incorporates many Smart Growth concepts.

Some of the principles of TravelSmart include:

• maintain mobility levels as Kamloops continues to grow by means of a transportation system that is effective, yet affordable
• integrate land use and transportation planning by managing future development patterns in a manner that minimizes the rate of increase in travel demand
• strive for further reductions in the rate of increase in travel demand through implementation of other feasible Travel Demand management techniques tailored in Kamloops
• recognise the linkage between the goal of environmental sustainability and an integrated land use and transportation system

Smart Growth and Transit

Community development is the factor that binds all others together in determining the nature of transit services provided. Ultimately, in conjunction with the transit services themselves, community development has the greatest influence on use of these transit services, especially conventional transit.

Specific recommendations for local government in relation to smart growth and transit include:

• Urban containment boundaries support transit by clearly defining which areas will receive urban services such as transit and which will not. These boundaries lead to communities that are more compact overall and reduce the distance that transit services must cover, thus improving the efficiency of the transit system.
• Medium and higher density development is more supportive of transit since this will bring more potential transit riders within walking distance of transit. Even if overall densities in a region are low, transit can be successful if development is concentrated into nodes or corridors, rather than scattered throughout the region.
• Mixed use development is more supportive of transit, since it generates more transit trips. By allowing for shorter trips, mixed use development can reduce dependence on driving.
• The design of a development can greatly influence how transit supportive it will be. For example, moving a parking lot to the rear of a development (or underground) and moving the buildings close to the sidewalk will make the development much more convenient to access by transit.
• Transit should be considered when road systems for new subdivisions and other developments are being planned. Collector roads should be designed to allow for efficient transit service.
• Generally, development that is more pedestrian friendly will also be more transit friendly. Most transit riders begin and end their trips as pedestrians.

For a more detailed description of transit and pedestrian supportive design — specifically for residential subdivisions and major parcels of land — read Transit & Land Use Planning, which is available in the Resources section.