How Affordable is HUD Affordable Housing?

52 Pages·2016·1.74 MB·English

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Transportation Research and Education Center
TREC Final Reports
(TREC)
4-2015
How Affordable is HUD Affordable Housing?
Reid Ewing
University of Utah
Shima Hamidi
University of Utah
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Recommended Citation
Ewing, Reid and Shima Hamidi. How Affordable is HUD Affordable Housing? NITC-RR-705. Portland, OR: Transportation
Research and Education Center (TREC), 2015.http://dx.doi.org/10.15760/trec.79
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FINAL REPORT
How Affordable Is HUD Affordable Housing?
NITC-RR-705 April 2015
NITC is the U.S. Department of Transportation’s national
university transportation center for livable communities.
HOW AFFORDABLE IS HUD AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
Final Report
NITC-RR-705

by

Reid Ewing, PhD
University of Utah

Shima Hamidi, PhD Candidate
University of Utah

for

National Institute for Transportation & Communities (NITC)
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207

April 2015

HOW AFFORDABLE IS HUD AFFORDABLE HOUSING?

Phoenix, AZ
Portland, OR

Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
NITC-RR-705

4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
April 2015
HOW AFFORDABLE IS HUD AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No.

Reid Ewing, PhD and Shima Hamidi, PhD Candidate

9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

University of Utah 11. Contract or Grant No.
Metropolitan Research Center College of Architecture + Planning NITC-RR-705
375 S 1530 E
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered
FINAL REPORT
National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) 14. Sponsoring Agency Code
P.O. Box 751
Portland, Oregon 97207
15. Supplementary Notes

16. Abstract

This paper assesses the affordability of HUD rental assistance properties from the standpoint of transportation costs. HUD housing is, by
definition, affordable from the standpoint of housing costs due to limits on the amounts renters are required to pay. However, there are no such
limitations on transportation costs, and common sense suggests that renters in remote locations may be forced to pay more than 15 percent of
income, a nominal affordability standard, for transportation costs. Using household travel models estimated with data from 15 diverse regions
around the U.S., we estimated and summed automobile capital costs, automobile operating costs, and transit fare costs for households at more
than 18,000 HUD rental assistance properties. The mean percentage of income expended on transportation is 15 percent for households at the
high end of the eligible income scale. However, in highly sprawling metropolitan areas, and in suburban areas of more compact metropolitan
areas, much higher percentages of households exceed the 15 percent threshold. This suggests that locational characteristics of properties should
be considered by HUD when establishing eligibility for rental assistance subsidies.
17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement
Affordable housing, HUD rental assistance program, transportation costs, No restrictions. Copies available from NITC:
affordability www.nitc.us

19. Security Classification (of this report) 20. Security Classification (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price

Unclassified Unclassified

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.0 Literature Review......................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Housing Affordability .............................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Shortcomings of CNT’s and LAI’s Transportation Cost Models ............................................ 5
2.0 Methods........................................................................................................................................ 8
2.1 Sample ...................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Data and Variables ................................................................................................................. 10
2.3 Statistical Methods ................................................................................................................. 12
2.3.1 Transportation Models ..................................................................................................... 14
2.3.2 Travel Outcome Computations ........................................................................................ 18
2.3.3 Cost Calculations ............................................................................................................. 19
3.0 Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 22
4.0 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 28
5.0 References .................................................................................................................................. 29
Appendix A ...................................................................................................................................... 33

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