Opinion: More Trains, Buses, and Housing Options Mean a More Affordable Austin for All

Affordability. We hear that word a lot in Austin for good reason. A poll last summer found that more people chose "lack of affordability" as a worry over other given issues (crime, homelessness, traffic, etc.) combined. As we continue to grow, exploring ways of making our wonderful community more economical will be a public policy challenge for us all.

While housing costs are the highest budget burden overall, families' toll for transportation has clearly become the second-greatest challenge. U.S. households spent an average of $10,961 on transportation in 2021 – the second-largest category after housing. The price of both buying and maintaining a car has almost doubled inflation for the past decade with the trend only getting starker. Furthermore, car expenditures grew by the third-largest amount (11.6%) of any major item from 2020 to 2021, behind apparel and services (22.3%) and food (13.4%). Reasons include insurance, where prices increased 14% between 2022 and 2023, and sale prices, which continue to increase for both used and new cars.

These increases unfortunately strike hardest for those that can least afford it. Households in the lowest fifth of income categories face a larger cost burden, spending 26.9% of their after-tax income on transportation compared to 10.4% by the highest earners.

We know driving is seen by many as a foundational part of life. But a choice to give up a car and use public transportation (in addition to walking and bicycle use) can save $10,000 per year from a household budget. Therefore, giving our friends and neighbors transit options is one of, if not the most, concrete things we can do to make Austin more affordable. And before you think this isn't possible, younger people across the country are seeing carless transit as more and more appealing. In 1997, 43% of 16-year-olds, 62% of 17-year-olds, and 90% of 20-to-25-year-olds had driver's licenses. In 2020, those numbers fell to 25%, 45%, and 80% respectively.

This is one reason why Transit Forward is so excited about sharing why Project Connect is so vital to Austin's future. A combination of light rail that leads to high-density residential areas, employment centers, and event centers like Q2 Stadium; express and neighborhood buses that connect with those lines and each other; and bicycle and pedestrian options to get more folks from their doors to transit stations will provide increased carless options that can work for all Austinites.

Additionally, it's important for all of us to understand that the issues of transit and affordable housing are interlinked. When people find a home near a transit route that can get them to work, grocery stores, health care, school, and play, they will be more likely to give up their cars and save money. It's why we are strong proponents of Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, the process by which cities promote more affordable housing along transit corridors.

Project Connect already embraces this idea with a groundbreaking $300 million in funds for anti-displacement programs, where neighbors who live near transit are getting help with areas like workforce training, child care, and rental assistance as prices increase. We will continue to urge the city to further support this concept with policies like new zoning that will allow for increased housing density along these routes so more people can live and work near transit.

Big projects like Project Connect are hard. They are complicated, taking time, patience, and sustained commitment. But if we are serious about making our world-class city a better, more affordable place to live, we need the world-class transit system it will bring us.

---

Bill McCamley is the executive director of Transit Forward, an Austin-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to educate and engage Austinites about transit with a focus on Project Connect.