Cindy Hyde-Smith Raises Concern About ‘Another Case Of The Govt Unable To Get Out Of Its Own Way’

6 months ago

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) gave opening remarks about transit-oriented housing development.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Chairman and welcome, thank you all for being here and this important hearing that

00:06we're having today. While many of the issues that we address in T-HUD, the bills fall squarely

00:13within either the transportation or the housing spaces, the topic today clearly cuts across

00:20both. It's pretty interesting. And TOD is a concept that seeks to blend transportation

00:26and housing efforts through mixed use development around access to frequent and reliable public

00:33transit. These types of projects may not be feasible for remote rural communities in Mississippi

00:40like where I live across the country, but they certainly have a promise and beneficial

00:47factors for populated urban areas. For example, Jackson, Mississippi recently received a $1

00:55million grant from Federal Transit Administration for TOD planning. This grant will support the

01:01one-line project, which aims to create new multimodal infrastructure and a bus rapid

01:09transit system along the five-mile corridor in our capital city. This corridor has the highest

01:16concentration of employers and educational institutions in the entire state, including

01:22Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center and numerous city,

01:27county, and state government offices. And despite this density, however, only 1% of the residents

01:35living in that area use public transportation to commute to work and only 2% walk to work.

01:4290% commute to work using their personal vehicles, and we know what that does. The city of Jackson

01:51will use the federal TOD funds to reverse this trend by improving accessibility and facilitating

01:58mixed use development. In addition to the FDA programs, Congress has also supported TOD by

02:07authorizing the use of TICIA funds for commercial and residential development and related infrastructure

02:13within a half mile of a transit facility. Since Congress provided this new authority, however,

02:21only one TICIA loan has been awarded to a TOD project, which notably did not include any

02:27residential components. So I hope today's discussion will shed light on what is preventing more of these

02:34projects from moving forward, and I'm concerned that what we are seeing in another case of the

02:39government unable to get out of its own way. Layers upon layers of federal regulations and

02:45requirements discourage local leaders and private investors from pursuing the TOD projects that have

02:51the potential to transform so many communities. But I do look forward to hearing what Congress

02:56can do to improve the process while ensuring that housing is a focus of federally funded TOD

03:04projects. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Vice Chair. Are there any...

Cindy Hyde-Smith Raises Concern About ‘Another Case Of The Govt Unable To Get Out Of Its Own Way’

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