First and foremost, TOD helps increase foot traffic, and with it business activity.

• In 2015, the National Complete Street Coalition found that in communities of different sizes and different parts of the country, streets that had been redesigned to be safer for people walking had higher employment levels and more new businesses than comparable streets that had not been redesigned.

• A 2012 study of people traveling by different modes in Portland found that people reaching their destinations by walking, biking, or transit spend more at local businesses than their automobile-using counterparts, because they patronize those businesses more frequently.

• New York City’s creation of a pedestrian plaza in Times Square led to increased shopping in the neighborhood by local residents, additional lunch trips by local residents, and more time spent outside of the office by local office workers.

• Open streets events, like the 2024-2025 Open Streets: West Walnut program in Philadelphia, illustrate the potential economic impact of walkability. These regular Sunday events led to significant increases in pedestrian activity, sales for participating businesses, and in-store foot traffic. 

The easier it is for customers to walk, the easier it is for them to stop and shop.

No business functions without employees, and transit helps small business employees reach work in a way that supports small business success.

• Transit is crucial to help workers get to jobs, whether in major metropolitan centers or less-dense rural areas.

• Transit relieves congestion—with research estimating that highway congestion in Los Angeles increased 47 percent when public transit service wasn’t available—allowing workers who don’t have transit access easier trips to work.

• Nearly half of young Americans don’t want to own a car. Robust transit options are needed in order to attract and retain current and future talent. 
  
  

More people driving to a destination diminishes the experience for all. But more transit to small businesses increases the number of people who can be small business employees without competing with fellow employees and customers for limited space, or requiring that space be dedicated to more parking and wider streets. 

TOD also helps structure commerce so that it is resilient, helping small businesses and the communities around them better weather shocks.

• Transit lowers costs for travelers, both by reducing the cost of individual trips and by allowing some to avoid owning a vehicle entirely, which can save over $8,000 per year. In addition to reducing household pressure, this increases consumers’ disposable income.

• Research on rural small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic found that small businesses in older commercial corridors and main streets, quintessential mixed-use areas, were better able to withstand the crisis than businesses in other locations. This was especially true for small businesses located near residential buildings and outdoor space. 

• According to a 2016 report, denser, mixed-use development patterns known as “smart growth” have lower up-front infrastructure costs, save local governments money on continuing to deliver services, and generate significantly more tax revenue than less-dense patterns.

How Small Businesses Can Engage with TOD Planning

TOD neither happens nor succeeds on its own. In order to reap the benefits of TOD, small businesses should actively participate in the planning processes that create and sustain TOD.

Support Increased Funding for Transit

Small businesses can support increased funding for transit capital projects and operations. Despite being more supportive of small business success, transit still provides workers less access to jobs compared to highways. But research suggests that improving transit, whether through significant capital projects, well-enforced bus lanes, or even simple service increases, can greatly improve transit’s ability to connect workers to small businesses.

Advocate for Appropriate Zoning

Small businesses can advocate for zoning that permits denser, mixed-use communities. In order for small businesses to benefit from dense, mixed-use communities, those communities have to exist. But in too many places around the country, current zoning regulations don’t allow for denser development or commerce to exist in close proximity to housing. Small businesses can use their position to advocate for these zoning changes. 

Shape Public Realm Improvements

Small businesses can shape improvements to streets and other parts of the public realm. TOD is most impactful when the public realm—including the streets, sidewalks, and other public spaces—can support transit. Small businesses can help shape the public realm to be more hospitable to people walking, biking, or taking public transportation by supporting street redesign projects, the installation of benches on public sidewalks, and other municipal services that make active transportation possible and pleasant.