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South Los Angeles Universal Basic Mobility Pilot Program

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Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) Implementation Grant

Los Angeles Department of Transportation | South Los Angeles Universal Basic Mobility Pilot Program

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June 2021 – March 2026

Project Details

The South Los Angeles Universal Basic Mobility Pilot Program introduces new sustainable mobility options for residents and workers and expands electrification to advance Universal Basic Mobility and equity for South LA residents. The project components include a mobility wallet and transportation subsidy pilot; an e-bike lending library; an on-demand electric shuttle pilot; an expansion of the BlueLA electric carshare program into South LA; new public charging infrastructure; CicLAvia events in South LA; stakeholder outreach and engagement activities led by SLATE-Z; quick-build active transportation demonstration projects; bike and pedestrian improvements on a future Rail-to-Rail active transportation corridor; workforce training on e-bike, electric charger, and vehicle battery maintenance; and a zero-emission delivery pilot program. 

Map depicts the STEP project area covering southeast Los Angeles.
Project Area Map, South Los Angeles, CA in Los Angeles County

Project Highlights

  • Through this project, 64 participants, including 44 women, were trained on electric vehicle charging equipment and light-duty electric vehicle battery maintenance. This helped result in an approximately 23% increase in jobs in the training program field for training participants.
  • This project supports one of the largest mobility wallet pilots in the nation, providing $1,800 each to 2,000 low-income residents of South LA over the course of a year to facilitate increased access to clean transportation options and key destinations.

Lessons Learned

  • Robust customer service is necessary to support participants in the mobility wallet pilot and should be built into a program's budget.
  • The structure of Resident Advisory Committee meetings has changed over the course of this project to allow for members to gain a more detailed understanding of specific project components and weigh in on project decisions.
  • Build significant contingencies into timelines to account for contracting delays and into budgets to account for inflation and other unanticipated capital and labor cost increases.

Funding Details

Grant Amount: $13,843,297

Resource Contributions: $7,942,050

Total Project: $21,785,348

By the Numbers

Services, Vehicles & Equipment Funded

  • 2,000-person subscriber-base mobility wallet pilot
  • 250 electric pedal-assist bikes for e-bike lending library
  • 4 electric shuttles for year-long pilot
  • 100 electric carshare vehicles for BlueLA expansion
  • 101 public Level 2 chargers (16 at libraries, 10 at parks, and 75 on streetlights)
  • Resident advisory committee training for 10-20 residents
  • 18 steering committee meetings
  • 1 youth ambassador program cohort
  • 2 community-based organization ambassador program cohorts
  • At least 3 CicLAvia events
  • Quick-build design treatments at up to 5 locations
  • 1 2-year zero-emission delivery program to support 5-10 local businesses 

Estimated Quantifiable Benefits

  • GHG emission reductions: 641 MTCO2e
  • NOx reductions: 265 lbs
  • PM2.5 reductions: 33 lbs
  • ROG reductions: 70 lbs
  • Passenger VMT reductions: -310,873 miles
  • Travel cost savings: $1,903,876
  • Fossil fuel-based transportation fuel use reductions: 56,192 gallons
  • Direct jobs: 88
  • Indirect jobs: 30
  • Induced jobs: 44

 Auto mechanics working on lifted vehicle.  Staff from LADOT universal Basic Mobility program behind the LADOT Table

Event attendees talking to volunteers and standing in front of booth  Event participants standing in front of an electric bus

Community Details

The project focuses on a group of neighborhoods in South Los Angeles, bordered by the 110 freeway to the east and the 10 freeway to the north. The population is over 370,000, and the majority of residents are people of color – two-thirds Hispanic and one-quarter African American. Much of the area qualifies as a disadvantaged community per CalEnviroscreen 3.0 and/or an AB 1550 low-income community. Over 4,500 individual South Los Angeles residents and over 40 community-based organizations shaped and prioritized the projects in this grant as part of a year-long Transformative Climate Communities planning process led by SLATE-Z. The need for subsidized and connected mobility options is a high priority for residents.

Community Benefits

The South Los Angeles Universal Basic Mobility Pilot Program tests, deploys, and delivers expanded clean transportation options for South LA residents, all guided by a collaborative decision-making structure. While major transportation infrastructure investments have been and will continue to be made to connect residents of South LA to key destinations, this program fills current mobility gaps, expanding access to traditional and new clean mobility options. The program focuses on serving the most vulnerable users, including youth, older adults, women, and people who are disabled or homeless. Equitable access to clean modes will build resilience in climate-impacted neighborhoods and will reduce fossil fuel drive-alone trips and greenhouse gas emissions.

    Outreach & Engagement Strategies

    • Surveys
    • Town hall events
    • Focus groups
    • Steering Committee meetings
    • Resident Advisory Committee
    • Community ambassador programs, including Youth Ambassadors 
    • Instructional flyers, pamphlets, and posters
    • Demonstrations and pilots, including CicLAvia events

    Target Populations

    • Non-English speakers
    • Undocumented
    • Older adults
    • Residents with disabilities (Including blind or low vision)
    • Transit-dependent, low-income riders
    • Residents with limited technology access
    • Families
    • Women

    Partnership Structure

    Grantee

    The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) leads the City of Los Angeles’s transportation planning, project delivery, and operations. LADOT works together and collaborates to deliver a safe, livable, and well-run transportation system in the city and region. LADOT is committed to fighting climate change and pursuing climate equity in underserved neighborhoods on the front lines of the climate crisis. LADOT oversees the entire South Los Angeles Universal Basic Mobility Pilot Program, which is being funded in large part by this STEP grant. 

    Subgrantees 

    Community Partners

     

    Contact

    Shirin Sadrpour | LADOT