Of all the new housing bills in California this year, perhaps the most interesting is a relatively small-scale proposal by San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) that could become a statewide model. AB 2923 (Chiu) would essentially allow BART to adopt local zoning standards for land it owns within one-half mile of an existing or planned BART station entrance.

The problem the bill is trying to solve is that many BART-owned parcels near the stations are wastes of space. They’re typically surface parking lots, which is a highly inefficient use for high-value land near BART. Adding underground parking (if any) and building housing and offices above would generate more riders per square foot and therefore reduce the taxpayer subsidies required to operate BART.

There are added benefits to this kind of BART parcel development. More offices in “reverse commute” areas on the BART system would help offset the peak ridership crush, as more workers could travel in the less-crowded direction. And more BART development could help spur building on surrounding parcels by bringing in more residents and workers and therefore more demand for nearby services and housing.

But this development won’t happen on its own. In many cases, local governments with land use control over the station areas restrict this development from happening. Hence the need for BART to propose this bill.

AB 2923 would start by spurring the elected BART board leaders to adopt transit-oriented development (TOD) guidelines by a majority vote. The guidelines must establish minimum local zoning requirements for BART-owned land on any contiguous parcels larger than one-quarter acres, within one-half mile a station entrance.

This step by itself is not a big deal, as BART already has TOD guidelines in place for many stations. The real kicker is that AB 2923 would then require local jurisdictions to adopt an ordinance that incorporates the TOD zoning standards within two years from when they were approved by BART.

In some ways, the bill is not that big of a deal. Since it only affects BART-owned land, most station area parcels are unaffected (in some station areas, BART doesn’t even own any land).

But in other ways, it would mark an important step by giving a transit agency land use control over their own parcels. If it works, it could become a model for transit agencies across the state. Since the success of a transit system ultimately depends on supportive land use, for too long these agencies have been at the mercy of local governments that are unwilling to commit to dense development near the stations. Now, under AB 2923, they would finally have some control over their destiny. It would be a win for the agencies — and for taxpayers and system riders.