(a)The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(1)Federal, state, and local governments in California are investing in new and expanded transit systems in areas throughout the state, including Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego County, Santa Clara County, and Sacramento County.
(2)This public investment in transit is unrivaled in the state's history and represents well over ten billion dollars ($10,000,000,000) in planned investment alone.
(3)Recent studies of transit ridership in California indicate that persons who live within a quarter-mile radius of transit stations utilize the transit system in far greater numbers than does the general public living elsewhere.
(4)The use of transit by persons living near transit stations is particularly important given the decline of transit ridership in California between 1980 and 1990. Transit's share of commute trips dropped in all California metropolitan areas--greater Los Angeles: 5.4 percent to 4.8 percent; San Francisco Bay area: 11.9 percent to 10.0 percent; San Diego: 3.7 percent to 3.6 percent; Sacramento: 3.7 percent to 2.5 percent.
(5)Only a few transit stations in California have any concentration of housing proximate to the station.
(6)Interest in clustering housing and commercial development around transit stations, called transit villages, has gained momentum in recent years.
(b)For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)"Bus hub" means an intersection of three or more bus routes, with a minimum route headway of 10 minutes during peak hours.
(2)"Bus transfer station" means an arrival, departure, or transfer point for the area's intercity, intraregional, or interregional bus service having permanent investment in multiple bus docking facilities, ticketing services, and passenger shelters.
(3)"District" means a transit village development district as defined in Section 65460.4.
(4)"Peak hours" means the time between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., inclusive, and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., inclusive, Monday through Friday.
(5)"Transit station" means a rail or light-rail station, ferry terminal, bus hub, or bus transfer station.