"Communities would be allowed to more easily build shelter where they need it most - near the transit lines and multimodal paths - under a new bill that seeks to lessen America's housing crisis by fixing existing programs. Known colloquially as the Build HUBS Act - for "Build Housing, Unlock Benefits and Services" - the bill would correct flaws in earlier federal legislation that functionally prevented communities from using funds from two key, low-cost transportation financing programs to help developers access low-interest loans to build transit-oriented development - a move which proponents say could unlock up to 100,000 new units."
"Those programs - the Transportation Infrastructure and Finance and Innovation Act or TIFIA, and the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing, or RRIF - were expanded by Congress more than a decade ago to support projects that would transform transit infrastructure into true "hubs" where homes, businesses, and services all converge. That's because lawmakers recognized that the mobility initiatives TIFIA and RIF helped pay for just weren't worth much if people couldn't use them to get anywhere - and that transit lines and multimodal paths are unlikely to have many riders if almost no one lives within walking distance."
The Build HUBS Act would allow communities to use TIFIA and RRIF financing to support transit-oriented housing adjacent to transit lines and multimodal paths. TIFIA and RRIF were expanded to create hubs combining homes, businesses, and services because transit value depends on nearby residents and destinations. Over the past decade those programs produced virtually no transit-oriented housing aside from a single Mount Vernon, Wash. library project in 2024, which did not add housing. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of more than 7.1 million affordable rental homes for people below the federal poverty line. Without these program fixes, many communities have favored car-oriented projects that limit transit access and housing equity.
Read at Streetsblog
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