The Grasslands Campus TDM Plan guided efforts to decrease driving alone and helped facilitate the transition to a mixed-use, multimodal environment on the Grasslands Campus. The Grasslands Campus in the Hamlet of Valhalla, Town of Mount Pleasant, New York is a 512-acre campus with over 4 million square feet of existing building space. The Campus, which has a daytime population of 10,000, has a diverse array of users and a range of public safety institutions, including the Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College. Significant redevelopment is planned over the coming years to transition the Campus from a suburban, auto-oriented destination into a mixed-use center with retail, hotels, and specialized office space for biotech and medical technology firms.
Foursquare ITP’s TDM plan featured a robust existing conditions analysis and employer and commuter and employer engagement. The existing conditions analysis synthesized data from the Census, the Campus master plan, site visits, and surveys. We conducted a survey of individuals who work, live, or visit the Campus to capture how people are traveling to, from, and within the Grasslands Campus today. We also analyzed the availability and use of commuter benefits by those working on the campus and identified interest in potential TDM strategies. Foursquare ITP also conducted a survey of HR professionals to understand what TDM strategies are currently in use at their companies, including the extent to which Grassland Campus employers used telework during the COVID-19 pandemic and what the anticipated post-pandemic changes to telework policies are. Following the completion of these surveys, Foursquare ITP conducted in-person engagement with commuters on the Campus at pop-up events as well as an online discussion group. We engaged virtually with the Campus at the outset of the planning process and midway through the plan to solicit feedback on recommended TDM strategies. The virtual engagements featured interactive polling.
We delivered three tailored TDM Resource Guide/Toolkit for different audiences: municipalities, developers, and employers. The employer toolkit includes information on how to develop a commuter benefits program, implement telework, create a bike- and walk-friendly workplace, and more. The municipal toolkit shares model ordinances and key considerations in the development of employer and development ordinances and TDM regulations. The developer toolkit focuses on explaining the benefits of TDM for developers and their projects and the range of options available for including TDM measures into development. We developed strategies that were programmatic (e.g., parking management, enhancing ridematching, completing the Campus pedestrian network, enhanced communications and outreach) and legislative (e.g., employer and development ordinances). Many of the strategies feature collaboration with the statewide NY511 Rideshare TDM program. We also developed an implementation plan that features best practices for methods of information distribution, organizational recommendations and an action plan, and a plan to monitor performance of the strategies in the plan.