1.This Act may be cited as the
Transportation and Housing
Affordability Transparency Act
.
2.
(a)The Congress finds the following:
(1)The average family spends about half of its
income on transportation and housing costs.
(2)Housing
affordability has traditionally been measured as the extent to which a
household’s income can cover the purchase price of a home or the monthly
rent.
(3)Households in
location-efficient communities can experience substantial savings on
transportation costs as a result of lower car ownership, higher transit usage,
and more accessible amenities such as stores and restaurants within walking
distance.
(4)In certain
auto-dependent areas, transportation costs can be very high, leaving families
with less money for housing, food, healthcare, and other important
expenses.
(5)Currently,
transportation costs and savings are not taken into account in government
affordability measures and standards, and information is not generally
available to consumers looking to purchase homes.
(6)Low-income housing
tax credits, downpayment assistance grants, and rental assistance under section
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, for example, are all awarded and
used without regard to this transportation cost burden.
(7)A community’s location, character, and
design can contribute to overall affordability of the community more than
household size and income.
(8)Households with annual incomes between
$20,000 and $35,000 and located far from job centers spend 70 percent of their
incomes on housing and transportation combined.
(9)Studies have shown
that 63 percent of federally assisted housing units located within one-half
mile of public transit may no longer be affordable to low- and moderate-income
families by 2012. At the same time, of the more than 250,000 affordable
apartments within one-half mile of public transit in 20 metropolitan areas
studied, more than two-thirds of the Federal subsidies that keep these
apartments affordable will expire within the next 5 years.
(10)Existing and
future affordable housing stock should be taken into account by local agencies
when planning economic development and transit projects, to ensure that the
combined housing and transportation costs remain affordable.
(11)The preservation
of existing affordable housing stock, particularly if it is located within
one-half mile of public transit or other neighborhood amenities, should be a
priority for local, State, and Federal agencies.
(12)Potential
homebuyers should have information about the transportation costs associated
with their housing choices to enable fully informed decisionmaking.
(13)Incorporating
transportation costs into affordability measures can enable stakeholders,
citizens, and decisionmakers at all levels of government coordinate and target
investment decisions, strategies, and plans to lower transportation
burdens.
(b)The
purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1)To provide consumers with information about
the costs of housing based on its location.
(2)To recognize
transportation costs as a key element of housing affordability.
(3)To ensure
transparency in housing and transportation costs for consumers, housing
providers, local and regional planning agencies, Federal agencies, and other
stakeholders.
(4)To enable the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, as appropriate, to incorporate
transportation costs associated with the location of housing, including
neighborhood characteristics such as density, walkability, the availability of
quality transit service, and convenient access to amenities, into affordability
measures and standards.
(5)To help
communities recognize the importance of providing transportation and housing
choices for their residents.
3.Transportation
affordability index
(a)
(1)The Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development shall, through a public process, develop a
transportation affordability index that measures the transportation costs
associated with the location of a home, both on a neighborhood and regional
basis.
(2)In
developing the index, the Secretary may enter into agreements with existing
entities for access to, and may rely upon, previously developed databases,
consistent with Federal procurement guidelines.
(3)Additional
location-specific costsThe Secretary shall conduct research and
analysis as to other location-specific costs associated with a home and
determine the feasibility of including such costs into the index to be
developed under this subsection.
(b)In developing the transportation
affordability index, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of
Transportation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Rural Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture, real estate,
development, housing, and transportation professionals, local and State
governments, low-income housing advocates, researchers, and other appropriate
parties.
(c)The
transportation affordability index developed under this section for a
household, property, community, or region shall take into consideration
appropriate factors, including at least the following factors:
(1)Location and, to the extent practicable,
frequency of service for bus, rail, light rail, streetcar, ferry service, and
other public transportation options within 1/4,
1/2, and 1 mile of the property. The Secretary shall
consult with the Secretary of Transportation on ways to better incorporate the
frequency of bus, transit and other public transportation options into the
index.
(2)If available, the
average daily vehicle miles traveled for the census block group in which the
property is located.
(3)The availability within, and accessibility
to, services within 1/2 mile of the property, including
grocery stores, parks, bicycle lanes or paths or other bicycle facilities,
community centers, restaurants, coffee shops, medical facilities,
laundry/cleaners, libraries, schools, plazas/town squares, banks, and day care
facilities, and other services.
(4)Proximity of the property to local and
regional employment centers.
(5)Net residential
density, as measured by households per residential acre.
(6)Any other factor
that the Secretary determines would help improve the availability of
information about transportation costs of housing
(d)Upon development of the transportation
affordability index under this section, the Secretary shall make the
index—
(1)publicly available
through the Internet;
(2)available to
Multiple Listing Services for real estate in a format that provides for
incorporation into such Services;
(3)available to
regional and metropolitan planning organizations for use in regional
transportation plans and models;
(4)available to local housing and planning
agencies for possible use in developing Consolidated Plans for formula grant
programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(5)available to States, local governments,
nonprofit organizations, and other entities that provide financial literacy
counseling to households; and
(6)available to
transportation management agencies and other entities that engage in
transportation demand management programs.
(e)Report to
Congress; workshops; pilot projectsThe Secretary shall—
(1)provide a report
to the Congress, not later than 120 days of the date of the enactment of this
Act, that identifies in detail—
(A)the opportunities
for, and the barriers to, the development of the transportation affordability
index and related housing affordability measures;
(B)the means and
methods the Secretary intends to adopt for overcoming such barriers;
(C)an implementation
plan for developing, piloting, and adopting alternative housing affordability
measures; and
(D)the potential uses
of the index established pursuant to section 3 to guide housing
programs;
(2)convene public
workshops or other suitable events to solicit input into the process from the
public and stakeholders;
(3)conduct one or
more pilot projects as may be necessary to test the feasibility of
incorporating transportation costs into current definitions of affordability;
and
(4)collect and publicly disseminate
information about which public housing projects and other HUD-assisted housing
projects are located within 1/2 mile of bus, rail, light
rail, street car, or ferry service.
(f)The Secretary shall
update the transportation affordability index under this section at least once
every five years, or more frequently if feasible.
4.Incorporation
into affordability measures and State and local plansTo the maximum extent practicable and in a
manner consistent with current research, the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, carry
out the following:
(1)The Secretary shall
incorporate transportation costs associated with the location of housing into
affordability measures and standards in connection with housing programs
administered by the Secretary, where feasible and consistent with the intent of
such programs. This paragraph shall not be construed to increase the rent
burden of any tenant assisted by any housing program or override any specific
definition of a housing affordability measure or standard required by or
provided under Federal law.
(2)The Secretary shall
provide information and resources to States to assist and encourage States to
incorporate transportation costs into their housing and land use plans,
including encouraging State housing agencies to use the index in administering
the allocation of Federal low-income housing tax credits and to provide the
information to recipients of vouchers for housing assistance.
(3)The Secretary
shall work with regional and local government entities to integrate housing,
transportation and, to the extent feasible, other costs associated with
location into long-range transportation, land use, housing and community
development, or investment plans.
(4)The Secretary shall consult with organizations that
use, or may wish to use, affordability indexes to incorporate transportation
costs into the housing affordability indexes of the organizations.
(5)The Secretary shall
work with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the
Treasury, and other Federal agencies to, where practicable, incorporate the
transportation affordability index established pursuant to section 3 into their
programs.
5.To the extent amounts are made available for
carrying out this section, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall, not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
conduct a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the transportation
affordability index established pursuant to section 3 in achieving the purposes
of this Act, including field evaluations of its use. Such evaluation shall be
updated annually and shall be made publicly available.
6.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There is authorized to
be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, to remain available until
expended, for costs of developing the transportation affordability index
required under section 3.
(b)Maintenance and
improvement of index and activities To incorporate indexThere is
authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through
2020 for—
(1)costs of
maintaining and improving the effectiveness and use of the transportation
affordability index established pursuant to section 3;
(2)costs of the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development of complying with section 4;
and
(3)costs associated
with annual updates to the evaluation required by section 5.
Of any
amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection for any fiscal year, 30
percent shall be available for outreach to Multiple Listing Service programs
and regional and local entities described in section 3(d) to promote the use of
the transportation affordability index.(c)There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for
fiscal year 2013 for costs of conducting the initial evaluation under section
5.