Local businesses have also benefited. A 2014 survey of Troost Avenue business found that 82 <br />percent of respondents felt that the Troost MAX increased store traffic, 60 percent said that they <br />themselves used the MAX as a form of travel .50 <br />Pulse Bus Rapid Transit, Richmond, Virginia <br />The Pulse BRT is a seven -mile regional transit line connecting <br />the City of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. Initial <br />assessment studies were conducted from 2010 to 2014. The <br />BRT began operating in June 2018. <br />Challenges to TOD implementation <br />Several station stops and their surrounding areas, especially <br />in Henrico County, displayed suburban development patterns—automobile-oriented, with <br />lower population- and employment -densities. This was a challenge to transit -oriented <br />development in the City and region's long-term vision. For one, 341 acres along the Corridor, or <br />23 percent of the walkshed51 were surface parking lots. These were identified as key <br />opportunities for infill development. Additionally, a large amount of property lots were found <br />to be tax-exempt, discouraging private development .52 <br />Some station areas suffered from vacancy issues. For example, 29 percent of the Adams St. <br />station area was considered vacant or redevelopable.51 <br />Strategies for TOD implementation <br />The initial project assessment phase included a land use analysis, which considered population, <br />housing, and employment densities; and land use designations and policies, and their potential <br />to incorporate more mixed-use, pedestrian -oriented, and transit supportive density and <br />intensity. The project identified station areas with the greatest near-term TOD potential, and <br />conducted market assessments. <br />The City initiated a re -zoning process to match the Corridor's future land use map. This <br />rezoning was part of a densification strategy that also allowed for the City to direct new <br />so Jarrold, Dick, "Sustainable Development and Kansas City's MAX Bus Rapid Transit System," Retrieved from <br />https://www.kansascityfed.org/-/media/files/publicat/events/community/2015-creating-communities/kansas-city- <br />presentations/sustainable-development-and-kansas-citys-max-brt-system-wo-extra-slides.pdf?la=en <br />51 The network of streets that pedestrians can travel in a given distance. In this plan, the walkshed was set as a ten- <br />minute walk (half -mile) from a station (or the midpoint between eastbound and westbound stations). <br />s2 City of Richmond. 2017. "The Pulse Corridor Plan." Retrieved from <br />http://www. richmondregional.org/Publications/Reports_and_Documents/Planning/PulseCorridorPlan-july2017.pdf <br />s3 "Broad Street Rapid Transit Study Land Use and Multimodal Connectivity Report." 2011. <br />http://ridegrtc.com/media/main/brt/Land%2OUse%20and%2OMultimodal%2OConnectivity%2OTechnical%2OReport.p <br />df <br />ECONorthwest 47 <br />220 <br />