Survey and Analysis of Transportation Affordable Programs in California

While the United States has long supported basic needs of residents through social welfare programs, policies supporting affordable transportation for lower income individuals have been much more limited. Federal support for transportation includes subsidies to transit agencies and requirements to offer discounted fares to certain groups such as seniors and riders with disabilities, but income-qualified discounts are not required. This study explores opportunities for improving access to transportation affordable programs by gathering insights from existing income qualified transportation benefits. Researchers compare examples of these programs to design features of existing non-transportation benefits to characterize opportunities for increased coordination and standardization. Finally, as the U.S. has seen an increase in recent years of Universal Basic Mobility (UBM) pilots that provide flexible transportation funds, the study incorporates insights from UBM evaluations to understand how UBM design features may be useful to agencies who are pursuing transportation affordable discounts and subsidies. The results suggest that there is significant potential for income-qualified transportation program enrollment both for agencies that do not currently offer these benefits and for agencies that already offer them, and that inter-organizational coordination among stakeholders may be essential in implementing successful transportation affordable discounts or subsidies. Additionally, the structure of income-qualified transportation benefits may vary depending on agency resources. Finally, with transportation equity as growing priority for California and its transit agencies, program administrators may opt for programs with easy access and enrollment rather than those that create barriers to participation through strenuous application and verification procedures. View the NCST Project Webpage