Bipartisan Bill In Congress Aims To Spur Transit-Oriented Development
Apartments near public transit routes have emerged as a rare point of bipartisan consensus in a highly polarized U.S. Congress.
The Build Housing, Unlock Benefits and Services Act aims to make key federal infrastructure loans easier to use so the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation and private sector players can collaborate on residential construction. It prioritizes projects that are affordable for low- and moderate-income residents.
The proposal “helps us maximize transportation investments, makes better use of public land, and empowers local leaders to use existing infrastructure programs more effectively to build housing where it matters and makes sense,” Sen. John Curtis, a Republican representing Utah, said in a statement.
He is co-sponsoring the bill with Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat from Delaware. Another bipartisan duo, Reps. Mike Lawler and Laura Friedman, introduced the version for the lower chamber.
The proposal aims to expedite processing timelines for project review and funding. It also seeks to waive National Environmental Policy Act requirements for some projects like office-to-residential conversions and infill development.
Five-year extensions of two federal transit loan programs — the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program — are also included in the proposal.
The House version of the bill was introduced Jan. 14 and referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Two other housing bills have been moving forward in Congress, the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act and the Housing for the 21st Century Act, which Politico reported may come up for a vote next week. These bills show there is consensus on both sides of the aisle on the issue of housing affordability, National Apartment Association Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Greg Brown said last week.
“Both are widely bipartisan and reflect the fact that everyone interested is interested in this topic,” Brown said at Bisnow's DMV 2026 Economic and Political Forecast event.
“This is a situation where the narrow margins in Congress work to our benefit because if the House and Senate change control, it’s not going to be by much. The margins are going to be thin, so if you want to do something substantive, you need to have both sides.”
While housing affordability has emerged as a bipartisan issue, that often isn't the case for public transit.
The Trump Administration is being sued by the Gateway Development Commission after the federal government pulled $16B worth of funding for a replacement rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.
In Pennsylvania, funding for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority was a major sticking point in a monthslong impasse that left the state without a budget long after its self-imposed deadline. It finally passed in November, 135 days late.
