Press Releases

For Immediate Release

MTC to Provide up to $6 Million to Expand Low-Income Residents' Transportation Options

Workshop set for Friday, March 29 in Oakland

CONTACT:

Evelyn Baker
510.817.5753

John Goodwin
510.817.5862

OAKLAND, Calif., March 26, 2002...As part of its continuing effort to ensure that Bay Area transportation investments deliver benefits to all communities regardless of income, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) plans to allocate as much as $6 million in state and federal funding over the next three years for new and expanded services to assist low-income residents in getting to and from employment and other support services. This includes $3 million in federal Job Access and Reverse Commute funds administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation plus an additional $3 million in State Transit Assistance funds. This money will be distributed through MTC’s Low Income Flexible Transportation (LIFT) program, which was created to fund transportation projects identified through countywide and regional welfare-to-work plans over the past four years.

A workshop for potential grant applicants to learn more about the LIFT program will be held from 10 am to 11 am on Friday, March 29 in the Claremont Conference Room at MTC’s offices on the 17th floor of the Lake Merritt Plaza building at 1999 Harrison Street in downtown Oakland. The workshop, which is open to the press and public, is designed for cities and counties, transit agencies, county social service agencies and other public agencies. Non-profit and private entities that partner with public agencies to implement a joint project may also be eligible to apply for LIFT funds.

In conjunction with the upcoming workshop, MTC has issued a "Call for Projects" to solicit proposals for projects that, if implemented, would reduce or eliminate transportation as a barrier to low-income persons who are seeking employment. The LIFT program will provide grants up to $600,000 per project over the three-year funding period, which must be matched dollar-for-dollar with additional funds from sources other than the Department of Transportation.

Projects must be nominated by a county welfare-to-work transportation advisory committee and be consistent with the respective county’s welfare-to-work transportation plan. Regional projects that are consistent with the regional welfare-to-work plan may also be nominated. Because MTC has already earmarked up to $2 million of the LIFT program’s State Transit Assistance funds to support an AC Transit pilot program for free or reduced cost bus passes for middle and high school students throughout AC Transit’s service area in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, no other projects will be considered from the AC Transit service area unless there are funds left over after other applications are considered. "We’re committed to making sure the LIFT program improves transportation options for lower-income people throughout the Bay Area," explained Ann Flemer, MTC’s Deputy Director of Operations.

Examples of eligible LIFT projects include new and expanded public transit services, transportation to child care centers, development of child care facilities at transit hubs, rideshare activities and "guaranteed ride home" programs. Project nominations and applications for new LIFT program grants must be submitted to MTC by 5 pm on June 28, 2002. A team comprised of MTC staff and Regional Welfare to Work Transportation Working Group members will evaluate and rank the applications, and make a recommendation for funding to the Commission in September 2002.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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