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LEED v4
New Construction
Location & Transportation
Access to quality transit

LEED CREDIT

NC-v4 LTc5: Access to quality transit 1-5 points

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Marilyn Specht

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Vice President & Managing Principal, US Sustainability

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Credit language

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© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Locate any functional entry of the project within a ¼-mile (400-meter) walking distance of existing or planned bus, streetcar, or informal transit stops, or within a ½-mile (800-meter) walking distance of existing or planned bus rapid transit stops, light or heavy rail stations, commuter rail stations or ferry terminals. The transit service at those stops and stations in aggregate must meet the minimums listed in Tables 1 and 2. Planned stops and stations may count if they are sited, funded, and under construction by the date of the certificate of occupancy and are complete within 24 months of that date. Both weekday and weekend trip minimums must be met.

  • Qualifying transit routes must have paired route service (service in opposite directions).
  • For each qualifying transit route, only trips in one direction are counted towards the threshold.
  • If a qualifying transit route has multiple stops within the required walking distance, only trips from one stop are counted towards the threshold.
Table 1. Minimum daily transit service for projects with multiple transit types (bus, streetcar, rail, or ferry)

Weekday trips

Weekend trips

Points BD&C
(except Core and Shell)

Points BD&C (Core and shell)

Points ID&C

72

40

1

1

2

144

108

3

3

5

360

216

5

6

7

Table 2. Minimum daily transit service for projects with commuter rail or ferry service only

Weekday trips

Weekend trips

Points (all projects)

24

6

1

40

8

2

60

12

3

Projects served by two or more transit routes such that no one route provides more than 60% of the prescribed levels may earn one additional point, up to the maximum number of points. If existing transit service is temporarily rerouted outside the required distances for less than two years, the project may meet the requirements, provided the local transit agency has committed to restoring the routes with service at or above the prior level. See all forum discussions about this credit »

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Frequently asked questions

Would a university or corporate campus shuttle service count towards this credit?

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What’s the difference between a commuter rail, light rail, and heavy rail transit system? I’m having trouble figuring out how to categorize the different types of transit serving my project.

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

Our project is located in a place without any existing or planned formal transit networks. How can we achieve this credit?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

What are the criteria for whether we are allowed to count future or planned transit stops?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

See all forum discussions about this credit »

Addenda

4/1/2015Updated: 4/16/2015
Form Update
Description of change:
Change all instances of the term "rideshare" to "informal transit".
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Documentation toolkit

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LEEDuser expert

Marilyn Specht

Introba
Vice President & Managing Principal, US Sustainability

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USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Locate any functional entry of the project within a ¼-mile (400-meter) walking distance of existing or planned bus, streetcar, or informal transit stops, or within a ½-mile (800-meter) walking distance of existing or planned bus rapid transit stops, light or heavy rail stations, commuter rail stations or ferry terminals. The transit service at those stops and stations in aggregate must meet the minimums listed in Tables 1 and 2. Planned stops and stations may count if they are sited, funded, and under construction by the date of the certificate of occupancy and are complete within 24 months of that date. Both weekday and weekend trip minimums must be met.

  • Qualifying transit routes must have paired route service (service in opposite directions).
  • For each qualifying transit route, only trips in one direction are counted towards the threshold.
  • If a qualifying transit route has multiple stops within the required walking distance, only trips from one stop are counted towards the threshold.
Table 1. Minimum daily transit service for projects with multiple transit types (bus, streetcar, rail, or ferry)

Weekday trips

Weekend trips

Points BD&C
(except Core and Shell)

Points BD&C (Core and shell)

Points ID&C

72

40

1

1

2

144

108

3

3

5

360

216

5

6

7

Table 2. Minimum daily transit service for projects with commuter rail or ferry service only

Weekday trips

Weekend trips

Points (all projects)

24

6

1

40

8

2

60

12

3

Projects served by two or more transit routes such that no one route provides more than 60% of the prescribed levels may earn one additional point, up to the maximum number of points. If existing transit service is temporarily rerouted outside the required distances for less than two years, the project may meet the requirements, provided the local transit agency has committed to restoring the routes with service at or above the prior level.

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:

  • Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
  • Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
  • Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
  • Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
  • Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
  • Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.

Would a university or corporate campus shuttle service count towards this credit?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

What’s the difference between a commuter rail, light rail, and heavy rail transit system? I’m having trouble figuring out how to categorize the different types of transit serving my project.

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

Our project is located in a place without any existing or planned formal transit networks. How can we achieve this credit?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

What are the criteria for whether we are allowed to count future or planned transit stops?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

4/1/2015Updated: 4/16/2015
Form Update
Description of change:
Change all instances of the term "rideshare" to "informal transit".
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
Yes

LEEDuser expert

Marilyn Specht

Introba
Vice President & Managing Principal, US Sustainability

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about NC-v4 LTc5 View the LEED v4.1 version of this credit