To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a process for incorporating transportation costs associated with the location of housing into affordability measures and standards, and to develop a transportation affordability index to measure and disclose the transportation costs associated with the location of a home.

Summary: Transportation and Housing Affordability Transparency Act - Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop publicly a transportation affordability index that measures the transportation costs associated with the location of a home, both on a neighborhood and regional basis.

Requires HUD to make the index publicly available through the Internet, as well as to Multiple Listing Services for real estate, regional and metropolitan planning organizations, local housing and planning agencies, and states, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and transportation management agencies.

Requires HUD to: (1) incorporate transportation costs associated with the location of housing into affordability measures and standards for HUD housing programs; (2) provide related information and resources to states to encourage them to incorporate transportation costs into their housing and land use plans; (3) work with regional and local government entities to integrate housing, transportation, and other costs associated with location into long-range transportation, land use, housing and community development, or investment plans; and (4) work with federal agencies to incorporate the transportation affordability index.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transportation and Housing 
Affordability Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The average family spends about half of its income on 
        transportation and housing costs.
            (2) Housing affordability has traditionally been measured 
        as the extent to which a household's income can cover the 
        purchase price of a home or the monthly rent.
            (3) Households in location-efficient communities can 
        experience substantial savings on transportation costs as a 
        result of lower car ownership, higher transit usage, and more 
        accessible amenities such as stores and restaurants within 
        walking distance.
            (4) In certain auto-dependent areas, transportation costs 
        can be very high, leaving families with less money for housing, 
        food, healthcare, and other important expenses.
            (5) Currently, transportation costs and savings are not 
        taken into account in government affordability measures and 
        standards, and information is not generally available to 
        consumers looking to purchase homes.
            (6) Low-income housing tax credits, downpayment assistance 
        grants, and rental assistance under section 8 of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937, for example, are all awarded and 
        used without regard to this transportation cost burden.
            (7) A community's location, character, and design can 
        contribute to overall affordability of the community more than 
        household size and income.
            (8) Households with annual incomes between $20,000 and 
        $35,000 and located far from job centers spend 70 percent of 
        their incomes on housing and transportation combined.
            (9) Studies have shown that 63 percent of federally 
        assisted housing units located within one-half mile of public 
        transit may no longer be affordable to low- and moderate-income 
        families by 2012. At the same time, of the more than 250,000 
        affordable apartments within one-half mile of public transit in 
        20 metropolitan areas studied, more than two-thirds of the 
        Federal subsidies that keep these apartments affordable will 
        expire within the next 5 years.
            (10) Existing and future affordable housing stock should be 
        taken into account by local agencies when planning economic 
        development and transit projects, to ensure that the combined 
        housing and transportation costs remain affordable.
            (11) The preservation of existing affordable housing stock, 
        particularly if it is located within one-half mile of public 
        transit or other neighborhood amenities, should be a priority 
        for local, State, and Federal agencies.
            (12) Potential homebuyers should have information about the 
        transportation costs associated with their housing choices to 
        enable fully informed decisionmaking.
            (13) Incorporating transportation costs into affordability 
        measures can enable stakeholders, citizens, and decisionmakers 
        at all levels of government coordinate and target investment 
        decisions, strategies, and plans to lower transportation 
        burdens.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To provide consumers with information about the costs 
        of housing based on its location.
            (2) To recognize transportation costs as a key element of 
        housing affordability.
            (3) To ensure transparency in housing and transportation 
        costs for consumers, housing providers, local and regional 
        planning agencies, Federal agencies, and other stakeholders.
            (4) To enable the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development, as appropriate, to incorporate transportation 
        costs associated with the location of housing, including 
        neighborhood characteristics such as density, walkability, the 
        availability of quality transit service, and convenient access 
        to amenities, into affordability measures and standards.
            (5) To help communities recognize the importance of 
        providing transportation and housing choices for their 
        residents.

SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION AFFORDABILITY INDEX.

    (a) Development.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development shall, through a public process, develop a 
        transportation affordability index that measures the 
        transportation costs associated with the location of a home, 
        both on a neighborhood and regional basis.
            (2) Agreements.--In developing the index, the Secretary may 
        enter into agreements with existing entities for access to, and 
        may rely upon, previously developed databases, consistent with 
        Federal procurement guidelines.
            (3) Additional location-specific costs.--The Secretary 
        shall conduct research and analysis as to other location-
        specific costs associated with a home and determine the 
        feasibility of including such costs into the index to be 
        developed under this subsection.
    (b) Participation.--In developing the transportation affordability 
index, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of 
Transportation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the Rural Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture, 
real estate, development, housing, and transportation professionals, 
local and State governments, low-income housing advocates, researchers, 
and other appropriate parties.
    (c) Factors.--The transportation affordability index developed 
under this section for a household, property, community, or region 
shall take into consideration appropriate factors, including at least 
the following factors:
            (1) Location and, to the extent practicable, frequency of 
        service for bus, rail, light rail, streetcar, ferry service, 
        and other public transportation options within \1/4\, \1/2\, 
        and 1 mile of the property. The Secretary shall consult with 
        the Secretary of Transportation on ways to better incorporate 
        the frequency of bus, transit and other public transportation 
        options into the index.
            (2) If available, the average daily vehicle miles traveled 
        for the census block group in which the property is located.
            (3) The availability within, and accessibility to, services 
        within \1/2\ mile of the property, including grocery stores, 
        parks, bicycle lanes or paths or other bicycle facilities, 
        community centers, restaurants, coffee shops, medical 
        facilities, laundry/cleaners, libraries, schools, plazas/town 
        squares, banks, and day care facilities, and other services.
            (4) Proximity of the property to local and regional 
        employment centers.
            (5) Net residential density, as measured by households per 
        residential acre.
            (6) Any other factor that the Secretary determines would 
        help improve the availability of information about 
        transportation costs of housing
    (d) Availability.--Upon development of the transportation 
affordability index under this section, the Secretary shall make the 
index--
            (1) publicly available through the Internet;
            (2) available to Multiple Listing Services for real estate 
        in a format that provides for incorporation into such Services;
            (3) available to regional and metropolitan planning 
        organizations for use in regional transportation plans and 
        models;
            (4) available to local housing and planning agencies for 
        possible use in developing Consolidated Plans for formula grant 
        programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
            (5) available to States, local governments, nonprofit 
        organizations, and other entities that provide financial 
        literacy counseling to households; and
            (6) available to transportation management agencies and 
        other entities that engage in transportation demand management 
        programs.
    (e) Report to Congress; Workshops; Pilot Projects.--The Secretary 
shall--
            (1) provide a report to the Congress, not later than 120 
        days of the date of the enactment of this Act, that identifies 
        in detail--
                    (A) the opportunities for, and the barriers to, the 
                development of the transportation affordability index 
                and related housing affordability measures;
                    (B) the means and methods the Secretary intends to 
                adopt for overcoming such barriers;
                    (C) an implementation plan for developing, 
                piloting, and adopting alternative housing 
                affordability measures; and
                    (D) the potential uses of the index established 
                pursuant to section 3 to guide housing programs;
            (2) convene public workshops or other suitable events to 
        solicit input into the process from the public and 
        stakeholders;
            (3) conduct one or more pilot projects as may be necessary 
        to test the feasibility of incorporating transportation costs 
        into current definitions of affordability; and
            (4) collect and publicly disseminate information about 
        which public housing projects and other HUD-assisted housing 
        projects are located within \1/2\ mile of bus, rail, light 
        rail, street car, or ferry service.
    (f) Periodic Updates.--The Secretary shall update the 
transportation affordability index under this section at least once 
every five years, or more frequently if feasible.

SEC. 4. INCORPORATION INTO AFFORDABILITY MEASURES AND STATE AND LOCAL 
              PLANS.

    To the maximum extent practicable and in a manner consistent with 
current research, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, 
in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, carry out the 
following:
            (1) Federal housing programs.--The Secretary shall 
        incorporate transportation costs associated with the location 
        of housing into affordability measures and standards in 
        connection with housing programs administered by the Secretary, 
        where feasible and consistent with the intent of such programs. 
        This paragraph shall not be construed to increase the rent 
        burden of any tenant assisted by any housing program or 
        override any specific definition of a housing affordability 
        measure or standard required by or provided under Federal law.
            (2) State housing plans.--The Secretary shall provide 
        information and resources to States to assist and encourage 
        States to incorporate transportation costs into their housing 
        and land use plans, including encouraging State housing 
        agencies to use the index in administering the allocation of 
        Federal low-income housing tax credits and to provide the 
        information to recipients of vouchers for housing assistance.
            (3) Regional and local plans.--The Secretary shall work 
        with regional and local government entities to integrate 
        housing, transportation and, to the extent feasible, other 
        costs associated with location into long-range transportation, 
        land use, housing and community development, or investment 
        plans.
            (4) Other organizations.--The Secretary shall consult with 
        organizations that use, or may wish to use, affordability 
        indexes to incorporate transportation costs into the housing 
        affordability indexes of the organizations.
            (5) Federal agencies.--The Secretary shall work with the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
        Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, and other Federal agencies to, where 
        practicable, incorporate the transportation affordability index 
        established pursuant to section 3 into their programs.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION.

    To the extent amounts are made available for carrying out this 
section, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, not 
later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, conduct 
a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the transportation 
affordability index established pursuant to section 3 in achieving the 
purposes of this Act, including field evaluations of its use. Such 
evaluation shall be updated annually and shall be made publicly 
available.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Development of Index.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
$3,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, to remain available until expended, 
for costs of developing the transportation affordability index required 
under section 3.
    (b) Maintenance and Improvement of Index and Activities To 
Incorporate Index.--There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2020 for--
            (1) costs of maintaining and improving the effectiveness 
        and use of the transportation affordability index established 
        pursuant to section 3;
            (2) costs of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
        of complying with section 4; and
            (3) costs associated with annual updates to the evaluation 
        required by section 5.
Of any amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection for any fiscal 
year, 30 percent shall be available for outreach to Multiple Listing 
Service programs and regional and local entities described in section 
3(d) to promote the use of the transportation affordability index.
    (c) Initial Evaluation.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
$1,000,000 for fiscal year 2013 for costs of conducting the initial 
evaluation under section 5.