Access, Equity & Mobility

MTC plans, coordinates and funds programs and projects to give older adults, people with disabilities and people with lower incomes equal access to transportation services.

Credit
Noah Berger

Life in the Bay Area is better when everyone is able to get around — to jobs, to food, to healthcare, to family and friends. 

MTC is at work planning, funding and coordinating accessible transportation for the Bay Area’s older adults, people with disabilities and people with lower incomes.

Clipper® START℠

Public transportation rides at discounted rates for residents with low incomes.

Clipper Card and Clipper START logo.
Community Action Resource & Empowerment (CARE) Program

CARE is a funding program to develop equity-based partnerships and provide resources and support in the Bay Area.

A public meeting for citizens to provide input on a public plan.
Community-Based Transportation Plans

Community-led planning to improve mobility options for historically underserved communities.

 

 Members of the public read planning materials in Spanish
Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan

The region’s blueprint to promote mobility for the Bay Area’s older adults, people with disabilities and people with lower incomes.

 

A man in a wheelchair boards a bus using the bus's lift, while a woman walks behind him.
County Mobility Managers

County-based assistance to help older adults, people with disabilities and people with lower incomes find information and resources for transportation.

 

A person using a wheelchair is assisted in using the vehicle lift on an SF Paratransit bus
Equity Priority Communities

By identifying which Bay Area communities are or have historically been underserved, MTC can direct funding toward projects that enable more equitable access to transportation, housing and services.

Map of Equity Priority Communities in the Bay Area.
Express Lanes START℠

Interstate 880 Express Lanes discounts for lower-income adults.

A smiling woman in a car's driver seat holds a FasTrak Flex transponder.
Lifeline Transportation Program

Funding projects that advance mobility and accessibility for people with low incomes.

T Third Street MUNI train in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco
Mobility Hubs in Affordable Housing

A site-specific suite of mobility services in affordable-housing communities.

Woman riding a shuttle bus, with overlaid logos for TransForm and California Climate Investments
Section 5310 (Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities)

Transportation projects that serve older adults and people with disabilities.

 

A senior with a walker boarding a SamTrans bus by using the vehicle lift.
Transportation Resilience, Accessibility & Climate Sustainability (TRACS) Project

A project designed to stimulate connection between the disabled community and Bay Area transportation agencies. 

A person in a motorized wheelchair crossing the street.
Regional Trends

The Bay Area’s population is aging, and, over the last decade, the portion of the population living in poverty has suburbanized.

On top of that, a growing share of the population lacks access to a vehicle. Together, these trends could cause our most vulnerable populations to have fewer transportation options and less access to vital services, like food, healthcare, jobs and recreation.

MTC 2018 Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan Update

MetroTalks: Access for All

Transit accessibility experts discussed why equity requires that public agencies design for people who face the biggest barriers to access, and how it makes a better system for all.