Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a dense development model where mixed communities are built around transit nodes to reduce dependence on private vehicles and to increase the use of sustainable transport modes by providing walking and cycling-friendly built environments. The concept of TOD was codified by an American architect Peter Calthorpe, one of the advocates of New Urbanism, in his book The Next American Metropolis published in 1993. Calthorpe defined TOD as “a mixed-use community within an average 800 metre (or 10-minute) walking distance of a transit stop and core commercial area”. Since then, TOD has emerged as a widely accepted land use planning approach over the past two decades, which has been credited with generating diverse environmental, social, health, and economic benefits

To illustrate how data analysis can be used to support planning for future TOD opportunities within Sydney’s context, we have produced a series of maps showing some indicators which can be considered in evaluating the suitability of stations in the heavy rail network. The following document and the interactive visualisation have these maps, which are based on open data sources and provide some data-driven contextual information on the existing train lines to help better understand current capacity, constraints and opportunities for future development.