Housing + Transportation Affordability Toolkit

Strategies

Beyond understanding the issues of housing and transportation costs, this toolkit provides strategies to address each through public policy and/or investment. The strategies are targeted to three sets of stakeholders: (1) policy and decision makers, including agency staff and elected officials, (2) employers, and (3) individuals. The Toolkit identifies some key strategies to reduce housing costs and transportation costs, ordered from those that require the least investment of time and resources to those that require the greatest. Where possible, the Toolkit identifies case studies that can serve as models for implementation, however the benefits of these strategies need to be weighed against the costs.

Housing Programs and Policies

  1. Use density bonuses and other incentives to create new affordable units

    2. Density bonuses are an incentive based tool in which a developer agrees to include a certain number or percentage of affordable housing units in exchange for additional development capacity. For every one unit of affordable housing a developer agrees to build, they are allowed to construct a greater number of market rate units than would be allowed otherwise.

    In California, a statewide density bonus law allows a 25% increase in total number of housing units allowed under existing zoning with the requirement that at least 10% of the total units be reserved for low income residents for 30 years.

    In the Washington, DC region there are several examples of places where density bonuses were granted to a developer to allow for more affordable housing. The majority of these projects are located near transit stations, including Navy Yard, Columbia Heights, the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, Wheaton, and Anacostia.

  2. Provide homeownership programs to help households afford homes

    3. Homeownership programs are programs geared toward low- to moderate-income home buyers that provide funding opportunities such as down payment assistance, financial counseling, and low interest loans to make home purchasing more affordable.

  3. Use tax credits to create new or preserve existing affordable units

    4. Tax credit programs give states the authority to issue tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of rental housing targeted to low-income households. Federal programs include the Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and historic preservation tax credits. Some states, including Maryland, have state-level historic preservation tax credit programs. Several states, including California and Illinois, prioritize transit-served locations in their allocation of LIHTC resources.

    In Arlington County, VA the Gates of Ballston was purchased for renovation and refinanced with $16.4 million in federal and state historic tax credit equity, among many tax credit examples in the region.

  4. Target preservation and rehabilitation of existing affordable units to areas served by transit

    5. In the Washington, DC region, there are currently over 23,000 Federally subsidized housing units, in addition to state and locally subsidized or set aside units. Of these 23,000+ units, 44 percent, or over 10,500 are located in areas with high-quality transit access that can also reduce household transportation costs. However, more than half of these transit-accessible units, and 30 percent of the 23,000+ units have subsidy contracts that expire in the next 5 years. Housing Trust Funds, which help reduce housing cost by providing zero interest loans or gap financing, are one means of preserving existing affordable housing units.

  5. Use community land trusts to create long-term affordable housing and infill development opportunities

    6. Community Land Trusts are non-profit organizations formed to hold title to land to preserve its long term availability for affordable housing and other uses. Dudley Neighbors Inc, located in Boston, MA is a community development corporation (CDC) and acts as a land trust purchasing land and leasing to private and non-profit organizations for low rates and 99 years terms. The organization has also been granted eminent domain power though the state to acquire vacant or abandoned properties. Dudley Neighbors often assembles vacant land together with city-owned land to increase the development potential. Since 1988, DNI has contributed over 255 units of housing, often in close proximity to existing transit service.

  6. Use inclusionary zoning to help create income diversity

    7. Inclusionary zoning requires developers to include a number of affordable homes in new residential developments. The number of affordable units is based on a percentage of the total number of units in the development—typically 12%-15%—and may apply only to developments over a certain size or those receiving some form of public subsidy. Montgomery County, MD enacted the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) ordinance—the nation’s first inclusionary zoning requirement—in 1974. The Ordinance requires developers of projects of 20 or more units to make 12.5% to 15% of new units affordable to lower-income households. In exchange for the affordable units developers are granted a 22% density bonus. An MPDU has a legally enforceable control period from the date of settlement and if the unit is sold during this time period the price is determined by the MPDU office. Owners are required to live in the MPDU as their primary residence throughout the 30 year time period.

  7. Develop a land bank to control development costs

    8. A Land Bank is a program in which a city owns or acquires land that is “banked” and later used to catalyze development projects. The city of Cleveland, OH has a land bank program that not only assembles large parcels of land for private sale but also sales adjacent buildable and non-buildable parcels for use in home, garage, commercial building construction, add driveways, enlarge current adjacent properties, add fencing, gardening, or landscaping, or to expand parking facilities.

  8. Create housing incentives to shorten commutes

    9. “Live Where You Work” incentives are programs that provide financial assistance for home purchase near employment facilitated by the local, county and state municipalities and participating employers. Live Where You Work in New Jersey is a home mortgage incentive program that provides low-interest mortgage loans to homebuyers purchasing homes in towns where they are employed. These programs could be tailored to locations near transit, too, to encourage households to make location decisions based on transit access.

  9. Implement an Employee Homeownership program

    10. Employee Homeownership programs provide financial assistance for home purchase directly from an employer. Live Near Your Work in Baltimore, MD is a partnership between employers and the City of Baltimore to provide direct financial assistance for eligible employees first home purchase in Baltimore City. Many large institutional employers such as cities or universities have some form of employee homeownership incentives that encourage shorter commutes.

  10. Encourage a mix of uses and live-work units

    11. Live-work units allow for the flexibility to be a housing unit, and office, or a combination of the two. Mixed-use developments allow for both employment and residential in the same structure or site. Both of these strategies can reduce household transportation costs by shortening commutes although it is likely that only a fraction of residents or employees will end up living and working at the same site.

Transportation Investments and Policies

  1. Create discounted farebox programs

    2. Discounted farebox programs provide a discounted fare for certain riders e,g. Senior Citizens or students. The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ) and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) currently offers discounted fare programs for a variety of users including seniors, the disabled, and college students. However, for MTA, the state’s farebox recovery policy limits the impact of these programs and can result in decisions that raise transit fares but cuts transit service.

  2. Include housing goals in local and regional transit plans

    3. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Metropolitan Transit Commission’s (MTC) Regional TOD policy mandates a plan for a number of housing units around regional transit expansion corridors based on the transit mode. The policy is designed to promote cost effective transit and ease regional housing shortages, while encouraging interjurisdictional planning for transportation and housing. Affordable housing units are credited as 1.5 units toward meeting the thresholds.

  3. Invest in pedestrian and multi-modal access improvements

    4. Pedestrian and multi-modal access improvements are focused on improving walkability to transit stations and providing better access by bike and other non-automotive means. When neighborhoods are walkable, including connected street patterns and small blocks, households can reduce transportation costs by meeting some daily needs by alternative modes. Virginia recently enacted a statewide policy on connected streets as part of new subdivisions, which seeks to address this issue.

  4. Improve local transit service quality and capacity

    5. Local improvements to transit service quality and capacity can help households reduce their transportation costs. “Last mile” transit service, connecting from regional rail transit service to local destinations is especially important in this regard. The Pike Transit Initiative in Arlington County aims to develop an advanced transit system which will increase mobility and serve the emerging transit market between the Pentagon/Pentagon City area and Bailey’s Crossroads, as well as support Arlington and Fairfax County land use and redevelopment initiatives for the corridor. This coordination between transportation and land use planning has been a distinguishing feature of the Pike Transit Initiative from the outset. The initiative also included new development regulations to support transit-supportive development in the corridor.

  5. Target job creation close to transit lines or stations

    6. Research in the San Francisco Bay Area showed that people who work within ½-mile of regional rail transit are about 4 times more likely to use it than those who don’t. Targeting transit-accessible locations for economic development and job creation can yield regional benefits for transportation costs both for individuals and for the overall transportation system.

  6. Improve pedestrian access and infrastructure around transit stations

    7. Many existing transit stations could support more housing and employment activity, or could be more of an asset to an existing neighborhood if they are made more accessible by foot and bike. Rahway, NJ funded a $16 million dollar renovation of an old train station located downtown. As a result downtown Rahway became a successful transit village by adding 1,500 new housing units, new parking garage and free surface parking. The station now hosts local farmers market, crafts markets and the “Taste of Rahway” festival every year. By making the transit station into the focus of community activity, the town helped reduce transportation costs for people coming and going from downtown.

  7. Allow flexible work schedules and telecommuting

    8. Telecommuting allows employees to work from home, and flexible schedules help reduce delays from congestion and peak hour transit fares. Many employers allow flexible schedules and telecommuting, which helps lower transportation costs.

  8. Encourage car pooling and rideshare programs

    9. Encouraging use of alternatives to the private automobile reduces household transportation costs. A relatively easy way for individuals to reduce transportation costs is to carpool or share rides. Many local governments require Transportation Demand Management programs to help spread information about carpooling and ridesharing from employers.

  9. Provide public transit allowances

    10. Public transit allowances are provided by employers to employees on a monthly basis to reduce the cost of public transit to and from work. Many employers already offer this benefit, or at a minimum, a pretax deduction from individuals’ paychecks.

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