Governor Newsom Signs Senator Wiener’s Landmark Law To Build More Homes Near Public Transit

Senator Scott Wiener’s Abundant & Affordable Homes Near Transit Act (SB 79) creates less restrictive state zoning codes to allow more homes near transit, to lower costs for families while strengthening transit systems, slashing traffic congestion, and reducing carbon emissions.

SAN FRANCISCO – Governor Newsom signed Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) landmark Senate Bill (SB) 79, the Abundant & Affordable Homes Near Transit Act. SB 79 tackles the root causes of California’s affordability crisis by allowing more homes to be built near major public transportation stops and on land owned by transit agencies in the most sustainable areas. The new law establishes state zoning standards around train stations and major bus stops to allow for midrise homes within a half mile of major transit stops, and allows local transit agencies to develop on land they own. 

SB 79 builds on the landmark CEQA reforms passed earlier this year in AB 130 (Wicks) and SB 131 (Wiener). By establishing state zoning standards, SB 79 unlocks a great deal of critical land to use streamlining laws like AB 130 and Senator Wiener’s SB 423 (2023). The passage of both AB 130 and SB 79 marks 2025 as the most significant year for pro-housing reforms in the history of California.

“SB 79 is a historic step toward tackling the root cause of California’s affordability crisis — our profound shortage of homes and too few people having access to transit,” said Senator Wiener. “In California we talk a lot about where we don’t want to build homes, but rarely about where we do — until now. SB 79 unwinds decades of overly restrictive land use policies that have driven housing costs to astronomical levels, forcing millions of people to move far away from jobs and transit, to face massive commutes, or to leave California entirely. By allowing more homes to be built near public transportation, SB 79 also strengthens our transit systems, increases transit ridership, and reduces traffic congestion and carbon emissions. It’s been a long road to tackle these decades-old problems, but thanks to Governor Newsom’s leadership, today marks a new day for affordable housing and public transportation in California.”

“By signing SB 79, Governor Newsom took decisive action to fight our housing shortage and climate crisis,” said Brian Hanlon, CEO of California YIMBY. "There is still more work to be done, but Governor Newsom just sent a clear message that California is ready to build a more affordable, sustainable, and prosperous future for everyone."

“SB 79 marks a turning point in California’s transportation and land use policy. By signing this bill, Governor Gavin Newsom is advancing a smarter, healthier, and more equitable future for our state,” said Marc Vukcevich, Director of State Policy, Streets For All. “Streets For All is honored to have sponsored SB 79, and we thank Senator Wiener and Governor Newsom for the vision and leadership in making California a place where affordability and transit are accessible for all." 

“With his signature on SB 79, Governor Newsom has taken a major step towards fulfilling California’s promise to build the homes our communities so urgently need,” said Mahdi Manji, Director of Public Policy for the Inner City Law Center. “SB 79 will promote housing affordability and livability in neighborhoods near high-quality transit and help thousands of families achieve their California dream. Inner City Law Center looks forward to working with local governments to implement this monumental law. We thank Governor Newsom for his leadership, the legislature for passing SB 79, and Senator Wiener for his tireless work as California’s strongest housing champion.”

"For too long, our biggest regions have banned the type of dense housing that we desperately need exactly where we need it most: near transit.” said Azeen Khanmalek, Executive Director of Abundant Housing LA. “With SB 79, we can build more homes, bring down the cost of housing, and have cleaner air and safer streets by providing more people better access to transit. SB 79 is not just a critical tool for solving our housing crisis, but also an investment in solving our climate crisis by bringing more homes to the core of our metro areas and avoiding environmentally damaging sprawl. Abundant Housing LA thanks Senator Wiener and Governor Newsom for their tireless leadership, and our cosponsors for their hard work." 

“The governor’s signing of SB 79 is a watershed moment for land-use policy in California,” said Jordan Grimes, Legislative Director at Greenbelt Alliance. “By making it possible to build new multifamily homes near our major public transit stations, we are beginning to shift away from decades of harmful development patterns and move toward building a more sustainable and affordable future.  This critical change will help safeguard our natural and working lands while delivering lasting benefits for our climate, our environment, and our communities.  Greenbelt Alliance was proud to co-sponsor this transformative bill, and we thank Governor Newsom and Senator Wiener for their steadfast leadership on this issue.”

“The Bay Area Council was proud to cosponsor SB 79, which will allow more housing near transit and jobs,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of BAC. “Amid rising rents and already-too-high home prices, measures like these are critical to making housing more affordable, increasing ridership on transit, and giving people the option of living closer to where they work. his is critical to making the Bay Area the best place to live and work, and we thank Senator Wiener for being an incredible champion for the region’s housing and transportation needs.”

"In order to maximize the value of California's investments in our public transportation systems, it is imperative that we ensure zoning for appropriate residential densities near major urban transit stops to boost ridership, meet our climate goals and provide the housing we desperately need in these location-efficient areas,” said Michael Lane, State Policy Director at SPUR. “We also must facilitate joint development opportunities on transit agency-owned land, as commonly practiced in other nations, in order to strengthen our transit system operations over the long term and attract private investment for transit-oriented development. SB 79 boldly delivers on both counts."

SB 79 provides local flexibility and establishes safeguards for affordability, construction wages, displacement, demolition, impact on low resource areas, historic preservation, wildfire risk, and sea level rise.

California has the highest cost of living of any state, primarily due to our extreme housing shortage. At the same time, overly restrictive zoning laws prevent millions of Californians from living near public transit, making train and bus systems impractical for many. Building an abundance of homes at all income levels, in close proximity to major transit stops, will address our housing shortage to lower costs while making public transportation feasible for millions of families to use. Building these homes starts with legalizing to build multifamily housing near major transit stops, also known as transit-oriented development.

Building on land owned by transit agencies will also provide urgently needed financial support for public transit. Many successful transit agencies in cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong raise revenue to support public transit by developing land that they own. In Hong Kong, the approach is so successful that the transit agency regularly turns a profit—in stark contrast to the many transit agencies facing major budget shortfalls across California due to slowly recovering ridership and the state’s low level of support for public transit compared with other jurisdictions.

Several jurisdictions outside of California have made progress in making transit-oriented development easier: 

• Colorado requires cities to allow an average of 40 dwelling units per acre within a quarter-mile of transit.
• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority must have at least one multifamily district allowing at least 15 dwelling units per acre.
• Utah requires an average  density of 50 dwelling units per acre in transit reinvestment zones.

SB 79 sets standards for allowable housing development within a half mile of train stops and major bus stops, also known as bus rapid transit (BRT) stops. SB 79 does not apply around low frequency bus stops. The standards are tiered to allow greater height and density in the immediate vicinity of the most heavily trafficked transit stops, and lower levels around less trafficked types of transit stops and in the surrounding areas

For Tier 1 stops — which include heavy rail lines like BART, Caltrain, and LA Metro’s B & D Lines — the state zoning standards will be:

• Up to 9 stories adjacent to the stop
• 7 stories within ¼ mile
• 6 stories between ¼ and ½ mile

For Tier 2 stops — which include light rail like Sac RT and SF Muni, high frequency commuter rail like some Metrolink stations, and major bus transit that qualifies as bus-rapid transit under the state’s definition, or is served by a 24-hour bus-only lane) — the state zoning standards will be: 

• 8 stories adjacent to the stop
• 6 stories within ¼ mile
• 5 stories between ¼ and ½ mile

Transit oriented housing developments under SB 79 are eligible for the streamlined ministerial approvals process under Senate Bill 423 (Wiener, 2023) if they meet that law’s environmental, labor, and affordability standards. Under SB 79, local governments would have flexibility to tailor their TOD areas and standards in an alternative plan subject to oversight from the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

SB 79 is sponsored by Streets for All, California YIMBY, Greenbelt Alliance, SPUR, Abundant Housing LA, Inner City Law Center, and the Bay Area Council. 

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