Press Releases

For Immediate Release

MTC Launches Housing Incentive Program

Connection between transportation and land use strengthened

CONTACT:

Reka Goode
510.464.7706

Marjorie Blackwell
510.464.7884

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 4, 2000...In the face of two of the Bay Area's most serious problems — escalating traffic congestion and a severe housing crunch — the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has initiated a program designed to encourage the creation of new housing adjacent to existing public transit facilities in the region.

MTC will set aside $9 million over the next three years to finance its Housing Incentive Program (HIP). Modeled after a successful program in San Mateo County — which garnered the grand award in MTC's Transportation Awards Program this year — the regional HIP will disburse funds directly to local jurisdictions that locate compact housing near transit. The jurisdictions may spend the HIP moneys on any neighborhood-based transportation projects that are consistent with MTC's Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program, which helps fund improvements to streetscapes, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and the like.

"We want to stimulate transit use while also addressing the regional housing shortage," said MTC Chair James T. Beall Jr. "The HIP project is a comprehensive and strategic planning tool that incorporates transportation, housing and land use."

The launching of the Housing Incentive Program is particularly timely in light of the release of a study last month by the Association of Bay Area Governments that estimated that the Bay Area will need more than 230,000 new homes in the next six years. MTC's own 20-year forecasts show that, if current trends continue, 300,000 of the region's employees and their families will be living outside of the nine counties by 2020 and spending precious time and resources commuting to work.

To qualify for a HIP grant, the proposed housing project must be in the initial planning stages; be within a one-third mile walk from a bus route, rail station or ferry dock that offers service at 15-minute frequencies or better; and provide a minimum of 25 units per acre. The award amounts range from $1,000 per bedroom at the 25-unit-per-acre level, to $2,000 per bedroom for a 60-unit-per-acre project. A $500 bonus per bedroom is awarded for all affordable units, and mixed-use development is encouraged but not required.

Adopted at the Commission's Nov. 15, 2000, meeting, the Housing Incentive Program is part of the larger TLC program, which was started in 1998 and since that time has provided $27 million in capital funding to 34 small-scale pedestrian- and transit-friendly projects around the region. TLC also has awarded a total of $1 million in planning grants to 36 projects, some of which later qualified for capital funding as well. In conjunction with the creation of the HIP, eligibility criteria for TLC projects have been revised to strengthen the housing/transit nexus in proposed projects. Specifically, selection of a project for TLC funding will take into account the extent to which the project increases housing opportunities at densities that encourage transit, bicycling and pedestrian trips.

Funding for both programs is derived from federal highway funds in the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, the Transportation Enhancements Program and the Surface Transportation Program. TLC planning grants are funded from state Transportation Development Act moneys.

MTC will be issuing a call for HIP/TLC project applications later this year or early next year, with capital grants to be made in the spring of 2001. Potential applicants may get more information on the HIP and TLC programs on MTC's Web site, <www.mtc.ca.gov>, or by contacting Trent Lethco with the HIP program by phone at 510.464.7737 or e-mail at tlethco@mtc.ca.gov, and Karen Frick with the TLC program at 510.464.7704 or kfrick@mtc.ca.gov.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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