Transit Is Urban Design
By Sean Crosby
RUDC Insights | September 2026
The healthiest urban environments have an energy and vibrancy that make them exciting places to live, enjoyable places to visit, and enduring places that adapt over time. That vitality begins with people. We can design spaces that are bright, colorful, and clever, but without people to inhabit them, their impact is limited. And if people cannot readily reach jobs, meet others, or complete the routines of daily life, even well-designed places will fall short. We cannot rely on cars alone. Mass transit is therefore not simply a transportation service; it is part of the framework that supports an active and inclusive public realm.
As ridership continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, cities and regions of very different sizes are investing in their transit networks. Kansas City opened the 3.5-mile Main Street extension of its streetcar in 2025 and the Riverfront extension in 2026. In Central Oklahoma, regional leaders are advancing planning and funding discussions for a proposed commuter rail line connecting Edmond, Oklahoma City, and Norman. Established transit regions are also adding capacity: New York is extending the Second Avenue Subway into East Harlem, while Maryland’s Purple Line is under construction between Bethesda and New Carrollton. Together, these projects demonstrate that communities continue to view transit as an important investment in mobility, growth, and urban development.
The benefits extend well beyond the ride itself. Well-planned transit can support downtown housing and businesses, connect people with jobs and services, encourage investment along established corridors, and reduce the land devoted to parking. By helping reduce vehicle trips, it can also contribute to cleaner air and healthier communities. But these outcomes are not automatic. They depend on frequent, reliable service; safe, comfortable access to stations; and land-use and housing policies that allow more people to live and work near transit.
This is where transit becomes an urban-design issue. Stations and stops should function as welcoming civic places, connected to sidewalks, bicycle networks, shade, landscape, and public space. Transit investments should be coordinated with housing and mixed-use development so that mobility and placemaking reinforce one another. When we reduce the amount of land required to move and store cars, we create opportunities for homes, trees, gathering places, and other people-centered amenities. The measure of a transit project is therefore not only how efficiently it moves riders, but how effectively it connects and improves the places along its route.
As architects, designers, urban designers, and other like-minded professionals, what should we do? Participate in local planning and advocacy, contact elected representatives, support transit funding and development, and help communities visualize the public benefits of change. We can also bring our professional skills to station-area planning, first- and last-mile connections, equitable development, and the design of streets and public spaces.
Most importantly, we should understand the systems we advocate for by using them. Ride your local transit system regularly. Notice where the experience succeeds, where the connections break down, and how the journey shapes your understanding of the city. If design professionals want to help create better transit and better urban places, direct experience is one of the best places to begin.