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.