California Air Resources Board

Project Goals

CARB’s clean mobility programs fund projects that facilitate community-led transportation planning and increase access to clean transportation choices beyond personal vehicles. These programs ultimately focus on planning and mobility strategies that shift the nature of the state’s transportation systems toward clean, active, and shared modes of transportation – especially in lower-income communities that have lacked transportation choices.

Planning and Capacity Building is intended to deliver direct and meaningful community benefits by facilitating intentional engagement inclusive of marginalized populations in all planning stages and by empowering community leaders and residents to meaningfully shape the transportation decisions that impact their lives. This includes considering specific guidance or requirements for applicants to support the zero-emission economy through training programs and local hiring where feasible, as part of clean mobility projects. These projects are intended to improve local understanding of residents’ transportation needs, channel communities to the right incentive funding opportunities, and prepare communities to implement clean transportation and land use projects.

Guiding Legislation/Policy Drivers

The following key legislation guides the priorities and implementation of Planning and Capacity Building:

• SB 150 (Allen, Chapter 646, Statues of 2017):Directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to assess each region’s progress on achieving regional GHG emissions reduction targets per SB 375. The Planning and Capacity Building Project addresses some of the challenges to achieving the State’s climate goals that CARB identified in the Draft 2022 Progress Report for California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act.
• SB 350 (De León, Chapter 547, Statues of 2015):Directed CARB to conduct a study
   to better understand the barriers low-income residents must overcome to increase
   access to zero-emission and near zero-emission transportation and mobility options,
   and develop recommendations to increase access. The Planning and Capacity Building Project specifically addresses many of these barriers and follows the recommendations outlined by CARB in the Low-income Barriers Study, Part B: Overcoming Barriers to Clean Transportation Access for Low-income Residents.

Project Funding

Planning and Capacity Building as a dedicated funding category began with the FY 2022-23 Funding Plan. In prior fiscal years, $4.85 Million was allocated to Planning and Capacity Building related efforts, including Access Clean California, Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program (CMO), and STEP, as noted below. 

• FY 2019-21 funding
  • Clean Mobility Options, $1.15 million in Community Transportation Needs Assessment vouchers were awarded to 24 California nonprofits, local governments, transit agencies, and Native American tribes.
  • Sustainable Transportation Equity Project, $1.7 million in Planning and Capacity Building grants were awarded to 8 California nonprofits, local governments, and transit agencies.
• FY 2021-22 funding
  • Access Clean California, $2 million was awarded to 6 community-based and grassroots level organizations to conduct clean transportation outreach and become formal outreach partners.
• FY 2022-23 funding
  • Planning and Capacity Building as a dedicated funding category began with an initial $5 million allocated.  CARB released a joint competitive Request for Applications (RFA) for Planning, CMIS, and STEP applications. The Concept Phase was oversubscribed by over six times the available funding. CARB awarded $3.1 million to 7 Planning Grants.
  • CARB released a $5 million competitive solicitation for a Statewide Planning and Capacity Building Project Administrator to oversee the Planning Grants and provide implementation support to the Planning, CMIS, and STEP grants selected from the FY 2022-23 joint RFA.  Data for Social Good was selected and of the $5 million, $3.1 million is dedicated to fund the 7 Planning Grants mentioned above.
  • Clean Mobility Options, $1.2 million in Community Transportation Needs Assessment (CTNA) vouchers awarded to 12 organizations from CMO’s Window 2 application cycle.
• FY 2023-24 funding
  • At least $7.5 million to fund applications through a new Planning RFA and to fully fund a partially awarded application from the FY 2022-23 Planning, CMIS, and STEP RFA
  • Up to $2.4 million for the Statewide Planning and Capacity Building Administrator to provide implementation support to the 5 additional CMIS and STEP awardees funded with FY 2023-24 funds, provide technical assistance and outreach for the upcoming Planning RFA, and to oversee up to 15 additional Planning projects selected through the upcoming RFA.

Recent Project/Policy Changes

CARB held three public workgroups and a public comment period in spring 2023 to discuss changes to STEP prior to releasing the Request for Applications in summer 2023. The main updates CARB made based on this public process were to align requirements between Planning, CMIS, and STEP and to develop a streamlined, two-phased application process and simplified application materials to facilitate access to funding.