Build More Housing Near Transit Act of 2025
The Build More Housing Near Transit Act of 2025 would amend the federal Capital Investment Grant program (CIG) administered under title 49 of the U.S. Code. Its core idea is to reward transit projects that are aligned with housing supply goals—especially affordable housing—by recognizing “pro-housing” policies in the project justification and rating process. The bill defines pro-housing policies as state or local actions that remove regulatory barriers to housing construction or preservation (including affordable units), and it provides concrete examples such as reducing parking minimums, adopting by-right approval processes for multi-family housing with objective standards, reducing lot size requirements, using publicly held land for housing, and increasing allowed dwelling units or heights through non-discretionary processes. It also directs federal agencies to collaborate on evaluating how these policies would translate into new or preserved housing over the life of a project. Finally, the bill requires reporting on projects that receive an adjusted rating due to pro-housing policies and the estimated housing outcomes. In short, the bill uses federal transit funding leverage to promote nearby housing development by prioritizing jurisdictions that implement pro-housing measures near transit corridors and requiring agencies to measure and report the housing impact of those policies.
Key Points
- 1Pro-housing policy definition and examples: The bill creates a formal definition of “pro-housing policy,” including actions that remove regulatory barriers such as parking minimums, by-right multi-family approvals with objective standards, smaller or no minimum lot sizes, use of publicly-held land for housing, and higher or expanded height/density allowances, plus other policies determined by the Secretary after consultation with HUD.
- 2Rating adjustment for proximity to transit: The Secretary may increase a project’s rating by up to 1 point on a 5-point scale if the applicant documents pro-housing policies within walking distance of transit facilities along the project route.
- 3Interagency methodology and evaluation: The Secretary must consult with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to develop a feasible methodology to evaluate how the documented pro-housing policies will translate into new or preserved housing units, including affordable units, over the life of the project.
- 4Reporting requirement: Projects that receive an increased rating for pro-housing policies must include information about the policies submitted and the expected housing units (including affordable units) resulting from those policies, as measured under the evaluation method.
- 5Scope and labeling: The act is titled the Build More Housing Near Transit Act of 2025 and amends Section 5309 of Title 49 to incorporate these housing incentives into capital investment grant considerations.