PennDOT to review public-private TOD proposals for Amtrak stations

Pennsylvania's Public-Private Partnership (P3) Board has approved a project to pursue transit-oriented development (TOD) at one or more train stations along Amtrak's Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will seek proposals to develop and connect the areas around at least one Amtrak station. Locations to be considered include Harrisburg, Elizabethtown, Mount Joy, Lancaster, Parkesburg and Downingtown, according to a PennDOT press release issued late last week.

The TOD opportunities could involve soliciting a private partner to provide operation and maintenance services; allowing a private partner to provide parking upgrades either through surface lot expansion or with the construction of parking garage; and if deemed feasible, the ability to provide both residential or commercial development.

The project approved last week seeks to build on the TOD P3 project already being administered for the Middletown train station, officials said.

Following the board's approval, the department will develop a project schedule that considers conducting a review of market soundness to determine whether to proceed on an individual station basis or whether to bundle more than one station into a P3 agreement. The schedule will be shared with the P3 Board prior to administering the project.

Signed into law in September 2012, Pennsylvania's Public-Private Transportation Partnerships Act allows PennDOT and other transportation authorities and commissions to partner with private companies to participate in delivering, maintaining and financing transportation projects.